AVID Guide to
Volunteering as a Family
September 2015
The Australian Volunteers for International Development (AVID) program is an Australian
Government initiative. This booklet has been developed by Australian Volunteers International,
a delivery partner for the AVID program.
Introduction
Living overseas as a family can provide incredible experiences for your
family. For children of all ages - a new culture, new language, new foods
and exotic sights can truly be life changing – the experience can impact
their lives more than you could ever imagine. The experience can affect
their future studies, career choices, where they decide to live as adults,
their relationships and how they decide to raise their own children.
But, the reality of moving your family abroad can be very challenging.
The decision requires careful thought and planning.
This booklet captures some of the things we encourage you to consider
when thinking about volunteering as a family.
Some information is provided about eligibility criteria and funding options
for our programs that accept families. You are encouraged to also speak
with a recruiter after reading through this booklet for more information.
We have also included some advice from previous families who have been
part of our programs.
There are a range of reflective questions through the document that we
encourage you to consider as you make your decision.
Many of the questions we ask you to reflect on here will also be drawn
on throughout the recruitment process.
Bringing Your Partner and Children
You are able to apply for your partner and children to accompany you on
a limited number of assignments under the Australian Volunteers for
International Development (AVID) program.
The AVID Program
The AVID program supports capacity development on request from host
organisations. You need to demonstrate that you will achieve the stated
objectives for the assignment over its full duration. Accompanying families
need to show they will be able to support you in this commitment.
 Families have often contributed great value to the goals and level
of partnership with host communities
 The resilience of volunteer families is recognised as strong given
their ability to rely on each other for support
Within the funding constraints of the AVID program, a limited number of
accompanying partners and/or children are supported. These are known
as Approved Accompanying Dependants (AAD’s).
Eligibility
To be eligible for the AVID program, AAD’s need to be:



Australian citizens
Australian permanent residents or
New Zealand citizens, residing in Australia
Your partner and/or family is required to commit to accompanying you for
at least 6 months. (Consider for example if you are a sole parent - at times
it may be necessary for a child to leave their parent during the course of
the assignment. The program allows for one break of up to 4 weeks, if
discussed with and approved by the Country Manager).
If they are not eligible under these categories, your partner and/or family
may still accompany you, but they will not be financially supported by the
program.
For non-married couples there are some restrictions, as in some
countries it is not possible to obtain a dependant visa, or could be
considered disrespectful for AVI to deploy non-married partners.
There is no provision for part-time assignments or formal job-share.
Approved Accompanying Dependants (AADs)
When you apply for a volunteer assignment, we ask you to notify AVI if
you would like to also apply for your partner or family members to
accompany you. Some locations are not suitable for families – our
recruiters can advise on this.
There are different ways partners and families can be involved:




You volunteer and your partner accompanies as an AAD
You volunteer and your partner accompanies but not as an AAD
You both work as volunteers (Both partners may identify assignments in the
same location and would need to be the successful applicants. If one partner was
unsuccessful, they could then apply to be an AAD).
You are the sole parent of one or more AAD’s
If you are short-listed for an assignment, adult members of your family
will also be assessed for approval to join the program as AAD’s. They go
through the same assessment as you; the only difference is that AAD
candidates don’t need to be assessed on technical competencies. All
adults are required to formally agree to the AVID Code of Conduct, and
commit to informing and guiding any children to comply with relevant
sections.
Older children may be invited to participate in the recruitment and
preparation process in consultation with parents. All volunteers and AADs
are required to have health and vaccination clearances.
There are AVID program and visa constraints on activities that AADs are
allowed to undertake – like paid work. In some countries, even unpaid
volunteer work cannot be undertaken by dependants of people who
have been provided with visas through the program.
In some cases, after mobilising as an AAD, your partner may find
formal work. They are able to withdraw from the AVID program, with
appropriate notice and consultation with AVI through the Country
Manager. If this occurs, the AAD must make their own arrangements for
visas, insurance, security and emergency evacuation contingencies, and
return home airfares.
Key Considerations
 If your partner accompanies you without being a part of the AVID
program (as an AAD), they are not eligible to receive any funding or
other support.
If this is the case, please explore the issue of emergency and medical
insurance and evacuation carefully. AVI would not be able to assist a
partner who is not part of the AVID program, in the event of an emergency
or an evacuation.
 AVI does have a duty of care to explore issues pertaining to the
partner that may impact on the volunteer candidate's ability to
successfully carry out their assignment. A common expectation
around the AVID program Code of Conduct would need to be
reached with both partners. Issues that might impact a volunteer's
work or standing in the community might include a partner engaging
in activities that did not abide by the host country’s laws; their
involvement in political, cultural or religious matters; disrespect for
national or religious symbols; or involvement in proselytising.
Funding for AADs
The following support is provided for each volunteer:











Vaccinations
Airfares within Australia to attend pre-departure briefing
Airfares to and from the assignment
Medical and emergency insurance
In-country orientation
Security arrangements
Re-entry support
Living allowance applicable to that location
Settling-in grant of $1000
Return Home Allowance of $1200
Housing may be provided by the employer, or through the standard
accommodation allowance applicable to that location (to afford
modest, secure, single housing within the community. In some highcost locations this may only cover rent in a shared house)
The following support is provided for each AAD (partner or children).








Vaccinations (not childhood immunisations)
Airfares within Australia to attend pre-departure briefing
Airfares to and from the assignment
Medical and emergency insurance
In-country orientation
Security arrangements
Re-entry support
25% of the combined living and accommodation allowance for that
location
Please Note:
Accompanying partners and dependants who are not AADs on the
program are not eligible to receive any funding.
Families have found that allowances are rarely sufficient to cover
all the living and accommodation expenses for a family. Some expenses
will need to be self-funded.
Health Considerations and Medical Facilities
Your access to medical facilities will be very
different from Australia. You need to consider
how this might impact your family. Children
generally require more access to both nonemergency and emergency medical care than
adults.
Regular services that children (particularly
young children) may need to access include
immunisations and other maternal and child
health care, dental (and orthodontic) checks,
hearing and vision checks. The program does
not cover these costs.
There may be a greater risk of serious illnesses
for you and your children in your assignment
location.
You may be less able to respond to minor
illnesses the way you do at home as your
access to basic medical care is harder to
access or expensive.
Emergency access to paediatric facilities should
be considered carefully as it may involve long
journeys, or even require leaving the country.
The quality will also be different to that in
Australia.
Disability support may be needed for some
children. These services do not necessarily need
to be available in the assignment location (e.g.
could be found online) but parents should
consider if these services are available locally
and factor in costs.
What will you do in a
medical emergency?
How long does it take
to get to the closest
hospital?
Will you need to leave
the location to access
routine medical care?
Will regular dental,
medication and other
checks be possible?
What costs will you
incur that you don’t
expect? (A lot of
routine care within
Australia is free or
government
subsidised)
Do you need to
consider the availability
of disability support
services in your chosen
location?
Options for Education
Overseas assignments will likely involve
What is the language of
significantly reduced access to internationalinstruction?
standard education options. Destination-specific
social and economic aspects must be considered
when deciding about schooling options for
What is the quality of
accompanying children.
the curriculum?
Schooling options available in the host
community may include:
What impact will this
Local schools
have when my child
Where local schools are an option only very few
volunteer family children have successfully returns to school in
been integrated previously, most often because Australia?
of language barriers.
International schools
If international schools are available, the costs
are generally very high, and may cause conflicts
between the volunteer parents' expectations of
immersion in a local community, and the
expatriate lifestyle the children observe their
classmates living.
Are learning activities in
line with your child’s
learning style/ ability/
requirements?
Are there options
available for formal
Distance learning
Common barriers to effective distance education extra-curricular
include obstacles such as unreliable technology activities?
and domestic distractions, as well as a lack of
adequate contact with teachers and support
services which may contribute to heightened
What are the
social isolation.
implications for your
child attending as an
Home schooling
Where parents are qualified to home-school their expatriate student?
children this may come at an increased risk
of social isolation and enduring language
barriers as children (as well as parents) are not
in regular contact with locals.
Different Teaching Styles
Issues like age, level of education, prior
academic success, social skills and resilience
should be considered in relation to impacts of
possibly reduced educational options.
Specific educational needs for children who
require support for learning difficulties or
disabilities should also be considered. For
example, speech and psycho-educational
support may be needed for some children.
These services do not necessarily need to be
available in the assignment location but parents
should consider if these services are available.
Physical Punishment
A key concern that parents may face is their
children’s exposure to physical punishment at
the hands of adults at school or in the
community. While your children may not
experience it themselves as expatriate students,
they will likely witness their friends and
classmates receiving physical punishment for
relatively arbitrary things (e.g. slapped with rulers
for dirty fingernails). It’s important to prepare for
them witnessing this sort of thing.
Will my children adapt
easily to the new
learning environment?
Will they catch up
easily on return?
Are supports like
speech therapy,
psychologists or
physiotherapy/
occupational therapy
available locally or
online?
How would you tolerate
particular cultural
customs, such as
corporal punishment
as a form of
disciplining children?
Would you tolerate
segregation or different
arrangements for boys
and girls for different
activities due to local
cultural norms?
Living Arrangements
No matter where your adventure will take you, it
is very likely that the living arrangements in your
assignment location will be different from home.
Communities might be more or less childfriendly. Children may be valued differently.
For example, there may be fewer toys and less
play space, especially outdoors, compared to
what your children may be used to back home or
even compared to other local and expatriate
children.
What do we do in a
less child-friendly
place?
How can we spend
our time and maintain
our level of
happiness?
What impacts may this
different environment
When taking very young children on assignment
have on your
consider the space for your children to play. There children?
may be fewer child friendly environments to visit,
such as fewer public parks. If it can be found, play
equipment may be in disrepair, or there may be
How do we prepare
safety issues with poor designs or irregular
the children for the
cleaning and maintenance.
different environment
In contrast, you may be living close to some of to make it easier for
the most natural places in the world! You and them to adapt without
your children could spend your days playing in scaring them?
the sand of beaches. Keep in mind that public
places like beaches tend to gather crowds and
may be a place to find potential friends and
How do your values
playmates for your whole family.
around child rights
and responsibilities
match up with your
host community?
Child Care
Expatriate families in developing countries won’t
have access to the same options for child care
as they do in Australia. Child care centres and
crèches are a lot less common. However, you
may have access to hiring nannies or other home
helpers.
Are you comfortable
having someone else
looking after your
children in a new
environment?
If so, are you willing
and able to spend
Standards of care and expectations of nannies will money on hiring a
differ from what you would expect from child care nanny?
professionals in Australia. You should consider
What are their English
carefully whether this is the right option for your
language skills like?
family.
Do you want the
As the wellbeing, education and health of your
nanny to interact with
child will be in the nanny’s hands, you will need
your child around
to interview a range of people and consider
learning activities and
carefully who you are committing to.
if so, how will you
Depending on the age of your child, you will need know if they have the
to consider the nanny’s ability to respond to your
ability to do that?
child’s needs. Nannies may not usually drive and
may have differing levels of education, which are What if there are
considerations worth taking into account when
health issues or
deciding to hire someone.
emergencies? Will the
nanny be able to
respond adequately?
How will you know?
Your Partner’s Role
If your partner will be accompanying you, are they
prepared for the role they will play? If they have
not been the primary caregiver before, there might
be adjustments they need to make to this new
role. Gender norms usually differ from Australia
and may make their role more challenging for
them (a male primary carer in a community
where this is a predominantly
women’s role).
Are we ready for
parental roles to shift
in our family?
What support can
caregivers expect
from host
communities
structures?
Financial Resources
Volunteer allowances are standardised in each
country, based on the cost of a volunteer living
modestly, immersed in the local community.
These resources will likely not be enough for your
family to live as it does in Australia. Please think
carefully about the costs you anticipate and how
your family will meet them.
Our recruiters can provide some advice, but you
will also need to research your move carefully.
AVI will also connect you to previous families who
have lived in your intended assignment location
during the recruitment process.
Can you live on the
allowances?
How much additional
money do you think
you will need to take
with you?
Goods and Services
Normal everyday goods and services may not be
available or could come at more expensive costs.
Please reflect upon your needs and consider you
and your family’s levels of flexibility to adapt to
such different circumstances.
Also, consider any specific needs and whether
you are able to potentially replace these with
local alternatives. Think about things like toys
and school equipment that your children are
used to. There may be limits on the nappies and
baby equipment that are available in your host
community.
As much as practical, try and gain more specific
information about the circumstances in your host
community.
Returned volunteers have pointed to the fact that
often very few expatriate families living in the host
community are volunteers. Instead, many will
have well-paid jobs and with such jobs access to
a range of resources.
Such resources can include generous housing,
cars, and sometimes organisational resources for
families such as spaces to play and swim. For
example, some expat families have access to
pools at Embassies or hotels that volunteers may
not have access to or be able to afford. On the
other hand, expat families may also have back
gardens and other play spaces which volunteers’
children may also be able to use.
How flexible is my
family in adapting to
different
circumstances
relating to goods and
services? What are
things we have to
have access to?
How will my family
cope with
experiencing uneven
or irregular access to
goods and services?
How do you
communicate such
differences to your
children ensuring they
don’t feel
disadvantaged in the
new environment?
Learning the Language
Formal language training may be provided to the
volunteer and accompanying dependants as part
of the in- country orientation.
Successful volunteers often start language
training prior to taking up their assignments, as
even limited use of local languages can greatly
increase your integration in the community and
work-place. Common issues reported resulting
from language barriers are social isolation and
bullying.
Please ensure you discuss the challenges and
rewards of learning a foreign language with your
children.
What are my
children’s levels of
readiness to learn a
new language?
Can we begin to learn
the language as a
family before we
leave?
What is my personal
level of readiness and
ability to learn a new
language and support
my children learning at
the same time?
How do we go about
learning a new
Think about options and talk about strategies that language? Tutoring
may assist you and your family in learning the sessions, individually
new language.
or as a family?
How early should we
start learning the new
language?
How much money and
time do we have
available to engage in
learning a new
language?
Cultural Influences
As well as the practical things, you will need to
consider influences on your family that have a
cultural element.
Factors to consider include dealing with different
standards of behaviour and accepting differences
in attitudes and beliefs about children, for
example about their rights or in theoretical
approaches to education.
For example, your children may be used to a
school environment in which they are encouraged
to take care of their friends. This can create
significant conflict for them when friends /
classmates in the local community are being
punished harshly by teachers, and potentially
produce a feeling of being powerless to act.
Have we considered
country specific
challenges, and even
more localised
location-specific
challenges?
Have we discussed
such concerns with
AVI and/or returned
families?
After conducting
research, do the pros
outweigh the cons for
our family?
Tips from Volunteer Families
A few key issues from former volunteer families
are captured below. First from parents and on
the final two pages – from kids.
Every family is different. When thinking about
possible impacts carefully consider your family’s
individual circumstances.
Working ‘double shifts’
“An important point for preparation is to consider
that in addition to working full-time hours and the
challenges and rewards this will bring, parents
are likely to have more work after-hours with their
children than in their home country. For example,
shopping tasks, access to adequate health care,
weather and transport challenges, absence of
extended family support, logistical issues such as
necessity of mosquito nets/close sleeping
quarters, can result in unforeseen impacts.”
Getting to know local families
“Getting to know local families in a genuine way
takes time and often language skills. Especially
for full-time fathers it can be difficult spending
time with local parents as mostly women are
looking after children during the day when the
other parent is working.”
“The local community is less likely to understand
and sympathise with your situation undergoing
adjustment of living in another country compared
to others who have also had to make the
adjustment.”
How well will your
family cope being
away from family and
friends at home?
What importance do
you and each family
member place on
socialising regularly
with others?
How open-minded
and adaptable are you
and each family
member to learning a
new language?
How savvy are you
and each family
member in speaking
the local language?
How flexible is your
family in adapting to
different local
customs?
Meeting the locals
“Take the time to go to the school gates (if your
child is young enough to still want to be picked
up) and talk to some of the other parents. It can
be hard to work up the courage to approach a
group of parents, but that is what your child had
to do – walk into a classroom filled with strange
children.”
Volunteer Community
“Most other volunteers will not have children or at
least not with them (e.g. parents of adult
children). Having a network of volunteers that
understands your experiences as a family will
depend on the group you meet.”
Expatriate community
“Many expatriate families are in a different
situation compared to a volunteer family. They
may be in senior staff positions, such as Country
Directors, and have access to resources of much
higher stand. As a volunteer the way you
experience your status amongst others will be
very much determined by your own selfperception.”
What ways as a family
can we plan to make
new friends?
Tips for Talking with the Children
In order to prepare every family member for being part of the experience
of living abroad, talking with your children is really important as you decide
and plan.
It will help the transition if your children are as excited as you are about
the thought and the experience of living overseas in a new community.
Children will adjust to the idea of
living far away from home
differently. Some will be
immediately excited, and others will
take longer to come around. Once
the thought is introduced, regular
discussions as a family will be
useful. The more questions you can
answer prior to your move, the less
insecure they will feel when they
arrive.
A good time to talk is when you
are all relaxed and have enough
time to explain the full situation.
Space to ask and answer questions
will be helpful. The idea is likely to
cause fears and uncertainties
initially, especially for children who
are old enough to realise that it
means leaving their familiar
surroundings behind for a while.
Doing research together as a
family can help with the process.
Nobody will have all the answers
about your new home and it shows
you think it is important if you find
out answers together with your
children. Doing research together
online and discussing your new
home with extended family or
friends who have visited before can
help. Answering questions can give
children a sense of security about
the move. But try not to promise
anything you don't absolutely know
you will be able to provide. Your
honesty is their security.
Children will have different
expectations about living
overseas. Some of these may be
surprising to parents. Just because
you love travelling doesn’t mean that
your children will. Instead help them
find their own positives in the
change they will go through. It can
help to highlight the advantages and
privileges of experiencing different
cultures and what this can mean for
their future.
The length of time for assignments and your previous experiences of big
changes as a family can impact the approach you take (Is the
assignment characterised as relocating the family or as an extended
holiday?)
The age, sex, temperament and resilience of your children will also
influence how they respond and cope. You know your children best
so think about the best way to frame the discussion to suit your children’s
preferences and comforts.
Throughout the process of deciding, discussing and planning, take
opportunities to spot risks and work together with your children to
address them before departure.
Kid's Views