Volunteering is very important in our community. You can join hundreds of local volunteers who regularly give their time and energy to help others.
Volunteer with us
Become a Ballarat Ambassador
Our Ballarat Ambassadors provide information on Ballarat to a large number of visitors each year. Their love and knowledge of the city and its rich history adds to Ballarat's reputation as a friendly, welcoming and culturally vibrant city.
Visit our Current Vacancies page to find out how to apply.
Youth Volunteer Opportunities
The City of Ballarat’s Youth Services business unit believes in the vision, voices and creativity of young people and offers an exciting and innovative range of programs for young people aged 12 -25.
These programs and initiatives are aligned to the City of Ballarat’s Youth Strategy and are designed to upskill, engage, inspire, and provide new opportunities to develop personal skills and interests for young people while creating change in the Ballarat community.
Youth Services are currently looking for dedicated, passionate and enthusiastic young people, aged 12 – 25 years to join our 2024 volunteer programs.
Youth volunteer positions are currently closed but if you would like further information email youth@ballarat.vic.gov.au
Youth Ambassadors
The Youth Ambassador Program is made up of young people who are passionate about being involved in their community and representing the views, ideas and needs of young people in the Ballarat area.
Youth Ambassadors are involved in community events, advocate for young people in the Ballarat region, inform Council and community planning in consultations, and develop a joint ‘youth led’ community impact project or campaign. Youth Ambassadors will develop skills in areas such as project management, cultural competency and media and communication, and have other unique opportunities to develop their leadership skills and community networks.
Youth Ambassador Volunteer Role Statement
If you have any questions, please contact:
Susan Larmer susanlarmer@ballarat.vic.gov.au
Phone or SMS: 0438 553 478
Young Eventsters
Young Eventsters is made up of young people who are passionate about being involved in their community and celebrating the achievements, creativity and leadership demonstrated by our youth. The Young Eventsters is in a unique position to innovate and shine a light on opportunities that promote positive outcomes for young people in Ballarat.
Young Eventsters is a youth led initiative, working on a variety of projects including the highly respected City of Ballarat Youth Awards. Other initiatives focus on celebrating and recognising key calendar events or days of significance. These may include Harmony Fest, IDAHOBIT Day, NAIDOC Week, R U OK Day, Mental Health Week and International Day of People with Disability. Participants will develop skills in areas such as project management, cultural competency, media and communication skills, and have other unique opportunities to develop their teamwork and leadership skills.
Young Eventsters Volunteer Role Statement
If you have any questions, please contact:
Chloe Thomas chloethomas@ballarat.vic.gov.au
Phone or SMS: 0409 760 209
FReeZA - SONIKA
Passionate about music & events? Dream of working in the music industry but not sure where to start? SONIKA is for you!
FReeZA is a Victorian State Government funded initiative that gives young people aged 12-25 all around the state the opportunity to lead the planning and staging of live music and cultural events for other young people. SONIKA is Ballarat’s FReeZA committee!
Become a part of SONIKA to build skills and self-confidence, create and develop professional relationships, and explore various education and employment opportunities and pathways in the music industry!
Participants are provided hands on experience and training in event management, marketing and promotion, sound and lighting production, as well as mentoring and networking opportunities.
Example events and programs Sonika have run include the youth stage at Ballarat Begonia Festival, gigs with local and interstate bands, professional music recording programs, PopCon – Ballarat’s Pop Culture Convention, and more!
Join SONIKA and start planning your dream event!
Follow freezasonika on Facebook and Instagram for updates on local all-ages events & performance and development opportunities for artists and musicians.
FReeZA Volunteer Role Statement
If you have any questions, please contact:
Lucy Timms lucytimms@ballarat.vic.gov.au
Phone or SMS: 0417 305 576
The City of Ballarat has a zero tolerance for child abuse and promotes the safety, wellbeing and inclusion of all children, including Aboriginal children, children from culturally and/or linguistically diverse backgrounds, and children with disability. We take allegations and concerns very seriously and respond to them consistently in line with our policies and procedures.
Parent Place Volunteer Opportunity
Parent Place helps families with young children to thrive, providing useful information and community links in an inclusive and safe space.
Families can visit Parent Place to feed and change their babies, find information, participate in an activity and have a play!
It is staffed and open to the public from 9:30am-2:30pm Monday to Friday.
Families can also access various services, including Maternal and Child Health, lactation consultant services, violence and family law advice. All the services are free and everyone is welcome.
Parent Place is currently looking for volunteers to join our supportive and welcoming team.
Volunteers are an integral part of our team and play an important role in welcoming and assisting families. If you have special interests or skills (such as craft, musical instrument, or more) or just a passion for helping families, we would love to hear from you.
We welcome applications from volunteers from all walks of life.
Apply to volunteer at Parent Place
If you have any questions, please contact us at via parentplace@ballarat.vic.gov.au, phone 5320 5165 or pop into Parent Place for a chat.
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The City of Ballarat is committed to the protection of your rights to privacy. We collect, use and disclose personal information in accordance with the Privacy and Data Protection Act 2014, the Health Records Act 2001 and other applicable legislation.
What is personal information?
Personal information is recorded information or opinion, whether true or not, about an identifiable individual.
Personal information typically includes, but is not limited to the following:
- name
- address (postal and email)
- telephone (home, work and mobile)
- date of birth
What are Council’s obligations?
Under the Privacy and Data Protection Act 2014, we have obligations in relation to how we collect, store, use and access personal information you provide to us.
Council is required to have an up to date Privacy Policy stating how it manages personal information. This document is based on the ten information privacy principles as well as two additional health privacy principals, which regulate the handling of information.
This document must be made available to anyone who asks for it.
What does the Act cover?
The Act covers Councillors as well as City of Ballarat staff. Non-government organisations that work for us under contract may also be obliged to comply, depending on the contract.
Access to and correction of personal information
Requests for access to documents containing personal information held by Council are handled under the Freedom of Information Act 1982. For further information, please refer to our Freedom of Information page.
If your personal and/or health information, which we collect, use or disclose is inaccurate, incomplete or not up to date please let us know and we will take reasonable steps to ensure that it is correct.
Who do I contact if I believe the Council has dealt with my personal information inappropriately?
If you believe we have breached the Information Privacy Principles, please contact our Privacy Officer on 5320 5500 or email privacy@ballarat.vic.gov.au.
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City of Ballarat celebrates the contribution and capacity of older residents annually during Ballarat Seniors Festival
![older man in blue jacket dancing](/sites/default/files/styles/content_header/public/page/field_image/2024-08/240529_MM_VSS_2024_MAX_086.jpg?itok=X2fZpyBI)
Ballarat Seniors Festival
Ballarat Seniors Festival is an annual event held over the month of October and part of the Victorian Seniors Festival running at the same time. Seniors Festival is a month-long series of events for and about seniors, celebrating the contribution of older people and providing opportunities for older people to be active and connected.
View or download the full program of events in the Seniors Festival Program 2024
Get Connected Seniors Expo
Date: Tuesday 1 October
Time: 10am-2pm
Description: Come and join the city of Ballarat Ageing Well Services team as we showcase a wide range of community, social and special interest groups across Ballarat who are keen to offer ways to join and participate. A fun filled day that shares many ways to explore, engage and evolve! Entertainment and refreshments provided.
Venue: Mercure Hotel and Convention Centre
Cost: FREE
Enquiries: Social Activities Team on 5320 5637 or email socialconnections@ballarat.vic.gov.au
Bookings: Preferred not required via Humanitix
Victorian Seniors Festival Country Concert – Wendy Stapelton and the Swinging Sixties!
Date: Tuesday 22 October
Time: 11am
Description: One of Australia’s favourite artists, Wendy Stapleton, has a brand-new show, The Swinging Sixties, featuring a raft of fabulous songs from the great female artists of the Swinging Sixties. She’ll sing through a songbook of hits from The Chiffons, The Ronettes, The Shirelles, Petula Clark, Lulu, Cilla Black, Dusty Springfield and more – presenting a show that promises to bring back great memories.
Venue: Civic Hall, Mair St Ballarat
Cost: $5 plus booking fee
Enquiries: 5333 5888
Bookings: Essential via hermaj.com
Contact us
We have a number of programs, services and activities to meet the needs of our residents aged 55 years and over.
Receive Ageing Well Services program promotions, information and newsletters:
- Sign up to receive via email
- Sign up to receive via Australia Post
- Call the Community Connections Team on 03 5320 5719
Djila-tjarriu (pronounced jilla-ja-roo) — the newly- constructed community hub in Alfredton — is already well-known for its kindergarten. However, the facility is also home to several spaces which are now open for use by the rapidly growing Alfredton community and western Ballarat suburbs.
![image of inside the community hub](/sites/default/files/styles/content_header/public/page/field_image/2024-05/AlfredtonCommunityCentre-04416.jpg?itok=UWJGYq3L)
About the Community Hub
Walking into Djila-tjarriu in the heart of Alfredton, you are greeted with an open, light-filled community lounge space with scattered seating and tucked- away corners.
Following the hallway through the building, you’ll find two large community rooms, a meeting room, a fully equipped kitchen, toilet facilities, and an outdoor garden terrace.
These state-of-the-art spaces are now available for the Alfredton community to use for education, training, events and to foster social connections.
Welcoming people in, City of Ballarat Team Leader Community Hubs and Outreach Eleanor Wight says the Djila-tjarriu Community Hub is designed to be an accessible facility for the local Alfredton community.
“We’re in the beginning stages, but we want to activate the facilities as community spaces and open them up to community-based programs and events,” Eleanor says.
"Anything from learning and recreation programs to tech help sessions, we’re open to ideas and community groups approaching us with programs they’d like to run in the space.”
Since the opening of the facility in February this year, the City of Ballarat Community Hubs team have already hosted several community groups in the space, along with a Community Welcome weekend.
“The Community Welcome event provided local community members with an opportunity to wander through the doors, meet the Community Hubs team, and participate in some fun recreation and learning activities,” Eleanor says.
“It was essentially an opportunity to welcome people into the space, which we’ll do again in spring.”
Supporting local residents
Given the rapid growth of Ballarat’s western suburbs, Eleanor says there is a thriving intercultural community in Alfredton and surrounds, along with many young and multi-generational families.
The Community Hubs team want to design and host programs at Djila-tjarriu that would address the specific needs of the local community.
“It could include resume writing workshops for mothers who are looking to return to work after having children, or financial literacy programs for young families,” Eleanor says.
“We are also aware of lots of families where the parents are working, and the grandparents are doing the bulk of the childcare.
“Some of these grandparents, or aunties and uncles, may potentially feel quite isolated, so we’re looking at running programs that might help support them specifically.”
To figure out exactly what kind of programs would support the local community, the Community Hubs team will be engaging with residents of Alfredton and surrounds.
Visit the Djila-tjarriu Community Hub page for more information
Contact Djila-tjarriu Community Hub
- Address: 18 Donegal Drive, Alfredton
- Room booking: Community Hub Booking Request Form
- Enquiries: communityhubs@ballarat.vic.gov.au or call 5329 1620
- Kindergarten: Register with City of Ballarat's Central Kindergarten Registration or call 5320 5720
- Newsletter: Sign up to receive updates on activities at the Community Hubs