Queensland Government
Department of Communities, Child Safety and Disability Services

There is a range of legislation that relates directly and indirectly to volunteer involvement in public sector agencies. Agencies should seek further clarification or obtain legal advice regarding specific situations.

Table of contents:

Workplace health and safety

Both volunteers, and organisations that use the services of volunteers, have obligations under the Workplace Health and Safety Act 1995. This Act sets out the laws about workplace health and safety for all workplaces in Queensland.

For example volunteers, like paid workers, must:

  • comply with instructions given for workplace health and safety by the employer
  • not willfully or recklessly interfere or misuse anything provided for workplace health and safety
  • not place anyone else at risk of injury or illness at the workplace
  • not willfully injure themselves.

Organisations are responsible for the health and safety of all workers, including volunteers. Concurrently, an agency is responsible for providing a safe and healthy work environment for volunteers that are performing work activities for the agency.

The Workplace Health and Safety Act 1995 sets out the key principles, duties and rights in relation to workplace health and safety. Workplace health and safety legislation provides guidance on what is required through the WHS Regulation 2008, Codes of Practice and Guidance material.

Meeting your workplace health and safety obligations involves:

  • providing and maintaining a safe and healthy work environment
  • providing and maintaining safe plant and equipment
  • ensuring the safe use, handling, storage and transport of substances
  • ensuring safe systems of work
  • providing information, instruction, training and supervision to ensure health and safety.

When working with volunteers it is essential to:

  • ensure that volunteers have appropriate skills, training and supervision to perform the work safely
  • when necessary, provide them with suitable personal protective equipment.

Workers' compensation

Certain types of volunteers and work experience students may be eligible for workers' compensation under Part 4 Division 3 Subdivision 1 of the Workers' Compensation and Rehabilitation Act 2003 (PDF). Entitlements as outlined in the legislation are subject to the organisation or agency entering into a contract of insurance with WorkCover Queensland.

Government agencies may also cover Volunteers and Committee and Board Members performing work activities for the agency through personal accident and illness insurance with the Queensland Government Insurance Fund.

Privacy

A privacy scheme, based on the federal Information Privacy Principles, applies to Queensland Government agencies and most statutory government-owned corporations. The scheme includes information standard and privacy guidelines.

(To ensure a nationally consistent approach between the Queensland public health sector and private health sectors, the scheme requires Queensland Health to comply with national privacy principles. In all other respects, Queensland Health is subject to the Queensland privacy scheme in the same way as all other Queensland Government agencies.)

Agencies are encouraged to develop policies regarding privacy, confidentiality and information management issues. Volunteers involved with an organisation should be subject to the agency's privacy policy and principles when handling clients' personal information and should be educated about the way clients' personal information is stored and managed in accordance with the Information Privacy Principles.

Agencies using the services of volunteers also have a responsibility to protect volunteers' personal information in line with the Information Privacy Principles. Anyone supervising a volunteer has a responsibility to ensure that personal information is collected, used, stored and disclosed in accordance with the applicable principles.

Relevant Queensland privacy standards and legislation include:

For more information, please see the Privacy and confidentiality section under Managing Risk.

Civil liability

The Civil Liability Act 2003 (PDF) protects certain volunteers from incurring personal civil liability if they are doing voluntary community work for a state government agency, local government authority or an incorporated association, and are acting in good faith.

The Act excludes a number of claims, including the following:

  • community work done under an order of a court
  • any claim where it is established on the balance of probabilities that at the time of the act or omission the volunteer was engaged in conduct that constitutes an offence (criminal act)
  • any claim where the volunteer was intoxicated when doing the work and failed to exercise due care and skill when doing the work. The meaning of intoxicated includes a person under the influence of alcohol or a drug to the extent that a person's capacity to exercise proper care and skill is impaired
  • any claim where the volunteer knew, or ought reasonably to have known, that they were acting outside the scope of activities authorised
  • any claim where a policy of compulsory third-party motor vehicle insurance applies
  • any claim where state law requires a policy of insurance in relation to the volunteer work.

It is unclear whether the organisation would be strictly or vicariously liable for the carelessness of a volunteer. In other states, the provisions of the legislation make it clear that the organisation will still be liable, even though the volunteer is excused of liability. It is not clear whether the courts would find that there is such strict liability attaching to the organisation when there is no express legislative statement of liability. However, if the volunteer can be considered an agent of the organisation, the organisation may be vicariously liable for the acts and omission of the volunteer.

The Commonwealth Volunteers Protection Act 2003 removes the civil liability of volunteers performing work in good faith for the Commonwealth, or a Commonwealth authority, to pay compensation to third parties where they may have caused personal injury, property damage or financial loss. Commonwealth legislation complements the Queensland legislation but has no direct impact on Queensland Government public sector agencies, which are subject to state legislation in this area.

For more information, please see the Insurance section under Managing Risk.

Misconduct, corruption and crime

The Crime and Misconduct Commission is an independent law enforcement commission set up to combat major crime in Queensland, including organised crime and paedophilia, and official misconduct in the Queensland public sector. The Act is relevant to volunteers as it applies to any person who holds any office, place or position in a public sector office.

The Crime and Misconduct Act 2001 gives the commission a number of functions including:

  • helping to prevent crime and misconduct
  • raising standards of integrity and conduct in the public sector
  • ensuring that any complaint about misconduct in the public sector is dealt with appropriately.

Investigation of administrative actions

The Queensland Ombudsman is empowered to investigate administrative action by most public sector organisations and appointed staff including volunteers. Agencies should recognise that where volunteers are doing jobs within the organisation, they can quite reasonably be seen to be working for the agency. In that context, the Queensland Ombudsman's authority could extend to the investigation of action involving volunteers within public sector agencies, and agencies should advise their volunteers about this possibility.

The Queensland Ombudsman also has the power to investigate complaints from volunteers about administrative actions of agencies that affect them personally.

Public interest disclosure

A person who makes a public interest disclosure is called a whistleblower. A public interest disclosure reveals unlawful, negligent or improper conduct affecting the public sector, or danger to public health or the environment.

The Queensland Ombudsman is the most appropriate entity under the Whistleblowers Protection Act 1994 (PDF) to receive disclosures from a public officer about administrative acts or omissions by a public sector entity which are unlawful, arbitrary, unjust, oppressive, improperly discriminatory, or taken for an improper purpose, and that adversely affect someone's interests in a substantial and specific way.

Although volunteers are not deemed public officers for the purpose of the Act, and are not able to make a public interest disclosure in most cases, Section 19 of the Act allows anybody to make a public interest disclosure about certain dangers to the health or safety of a person with a disability or certain dangers to the environment. Furthermore, under Section 20 anybody may make a public interest disclosure about a reprisal.

There are Acts providing protection to people who are not public officers who disclose inappropriate conduct, for example, the Ombudsman Act 2001 (PDF) (Section 47)where a person gives information to the Ombudsman for the purposes of an investigation. Where a disclosure concerns criminal behaviour or misconduct it may be referred to the Crime and Misconduct Commission.

Discrimination

The Anti-Discrimination Act 1991 (PDF) is about fairness — it doesn't matter what sex, race or age people are, if they have an impairment or what political beliefs they may have — everyone is entitled to be treated fairly under the Anti-Discrimination Act 1991. The Anti-Discrimination Commission administers the Act, which aims to protect everyone from unfair discrimination, sexual harassment and vilification. The fundamental principles of the legislation should be used to guide agencies in their dealings with volunteers.

Under the Act, the Anti-Discrimination Commission Queensland has the capacity to investigate and settle complaints, including those made by volunteers, of unlawful discrimination and harassment. The Anti-Discrimination Tribunal hears complaints of discrimination, which have been referred to it by the Anti-Discrimination Commission. It operates in a similar way to a court. The tribunal seeks to operate its proceedings in an informal and non-intimidating manner.

Intellectual property

Volunteers within government agencies are involved in a wide range of activities that could potentially involve the generation of intellectual property. These activities can range from aiding in the generation of written material (whether for publication or internal use), artistic work, the collection, composition and arrangement of data and research. The intellectual property generated may be in the form of copyright material, patentable inventions or other forms of intellectual property rights.

Unless there is an agreement to the contrary, or unless the intellectual property in question was copyright and created or published under the direction or control of a government agency, a volunteer who creates intellectual property will be the owner of that intellectual property. This differs from a state government employee. The state government owns copyright where the material is produced by an employee in the usual course of performing their duties.

It is therefore recommended that if volunteers develop intellectual property that may be of operational or commercial value to a government agency, the agency seek to obtain an assignment or licence of intellectual property that may be generated by the volunteer as a condition of the volunteer working for it. Government agencies should obtain legal advice as to how to address these issues in a binding contract with volunteers.