Volunteering & Backpacking at Happy Pantry.

You live on our property in Baldivis and volunteer with our community food charity. In exchange for about 35 hours of volunteering a week, you get somewhere to stay and food. It is a volunteer arrangement, not a job, so there are no wages.

At least 4 hours on each volunteering day and about 35 hours a week in exchange for your accommodation and food. Some days are busier than others, but never more than 38 hours in any 7 days. You sign in and out every time so your hours are recorded.

The minimum stay is 4 weeks. Choose your arrival and departure dates in the application form. If your dates are flexible, say so – it helps us fit you in.

The $50 is a one-off, refundable deposit for the linen and shared household supplies you use during your stay – sheets and bedding, laundry, and shared items such as cleaning products, toilet paper, tea and coffee. These need to be returned when you leave, so your deposit is returned to you at the end of your stay once they are handed back in good order. It is also refunded in full if your application is not approved.

After you agree to the terms and fill in your details, you pay the $50 contribution securely by card. Your application is only sent to Happy Pantry Baldivis Community Support Inc. once payment has gone through.

You get an email with a copy of your application and the agreement you signed. Happy Pantry Baldivis Community Support Inc. reviews every application and will email you to approve your dates or suggest other dates. If we can’t host you, your contribution is refunded.

A mix of hands-on work across the charity and the property: sorting and checking donated food, packing food boxes, setting up and serving customers at our Wednesday and Thursday community market, helping with deliveries and street outreach for people experiencing homelessness, caring for our animals on a roster, light farm and garden duties, and keeping shared areas clean and tidy. No experience is needed – we’ll show you how to do each task safely.

You stay in our bus or caravan, unless you have your own campervan, van or car rooftop tent. Tell us in the form what you have and we’ll sort out where you’ll sleep. Sheets and bedding are provided.

Yes. After the market closes you can take enough food for a day or two, and on non-market days, speak with the operational manager for food access or access to the cool room. Please don’t take food during shop hours on Wednesday and Thursday mornings. Tell us about any dietary needs in the form.

A shared kitchen, hot showers (no strict shower times), toilet and wifi. Clean the shower, toilet and kitchen after every use and leave them ready for the next person. Day-to-day supplies like tea, coffee and dishwashing liquid are provided – just ask the operational manager.

Be respectful to everyone, keep quiet between 9:00pm and 7:00am, keep shared areas clean, follow the animal-care roster and follow reasonable directions from management. The property is smoke-free and drug-free and excessive alcohol is not allowed. Campfires only with approval. You can download the full Terms & Conditions on this page.

No smoking anywhere on the property and no illegal drugs. Excessive drinking isn’t allowed either. Serious breaches can mean immediate removal.

Yes – when it is natural-disaster recovery work. We give every volunteer a signed letter of the dates and hours they volunteered. Most specified work (farming, construction and the like) has to be paid, but there is an important exception: natural-disaster recovery work – floods, fires or cyclones – in a government-declared area can be done as an unpaid volunteer and still count. Happy Pantry runs food relief and recovery across the areas we serve, so when a disaster is declared in one of those areas, your volunteer hours with us can count toward your 88 days. Home Affairs confirms whether a particular period counts, so check your own dates with them.

Our Baldivis base (6171) is not eligible – it is inside greater Perth. But areas we serve further south are in the eligible south-west region (postcodes 6200–6799): Pinjarra (6208), Collie (6225), Australind (6233), Harvey (6220), Brunswick Junction (6224), Bunbury (6230), Eaton (6232), Dardanup (6236), Donnybrook (6239), Capel (6271) and Waroona (6215). For natural-disaster recovery work, Home Affairs sets eligibility by the Local Government Area it declares for each event, so confirm the current eligible areas on the Department of Home Affairs website.

We keep it as accurate as we can, but visa rules and declared-disaster areas can change, so treat it as a helpful guide rather than formal immigration advice. For your own dates and situation, the Department of Home Affairs is the place to confirm the current details.

Visitors are welcome during the day if you let the operational manager know – keep them to the main communal areas. No overnight visitors without permission. Please ask before bringing any animal.

Phones are restricted during volunteering hours for safety. Use them on breaks and after your shift.

It helps a lot. Baldivis is about 45 km south of Perth and public transport is limited. Let us know in the form whether you will have a vehicle.

We’re at 550 St Albans Road, Baldivis WA 6171, in Baldivis on Perth’s southern edge – about 45 minutes’ drive south of the Perth city centre and around 15 minutes from Rockingham’s beaches.

By car, it’s about 45 minutes from Perth city and around an hour from Perth Airport, mostly via the Kwinana Freeway. By public transport, take the Transperth Mandurah line train to Warnbro or Rockingham station, then a taxi or rideshare for the last part. Let us know your arrival time in the form, and ask us if you need help working out the best way to get here.

We’ll welcome you, show you around the property, go through the house rules and safety basics, show you where you’ll sleep, set you up in the volunteer time log and explain your roster. Ask as many questions as you like – there’s no such thing as a silly question.

It varies with the roster. Wednesdays and Thursdays are market days, which are the busiest – setting up, serving customers and packing down. Other days include sorting donated food, packing boxes, caring for the animals, helping around the property and supporting outreach.

Somewhere to stay, food, training for every task, any safety gear you need, a friendly team and a real sense of purpose – plus a reference and a letter confirming your hours when you finish your stay.

Turn up when you’re rostered, put in your volunteering hours, sign in and out, follow the house rules and reasonable directions, keep shared areas clean, look after the animals on your roster and treat everyone with respect.

You’ll need enough English to understand safety instructions and chat with customers and the team. You don’t need to be fluent.

Yes. There’s a shared kitchen you can use to cook your meals. Please clean up straight after you use it and keep the fridges tidy.

Yes. Baldivis has supermarkets, a chemist, cafés and other shops a short drive away, and Rockingham is around 15 minutes by car.

Rockingham’s beaches are close by, Penguin Island is a popular day trip (seasonal), Mandurah is about 30 minutes south, and Perth city and Fremantle are around 45 minutes away by car or train.

Closed-toe shoes, work clothes you don’t mind getting dirty, a hat and sunscreen, a refillable water bottle, a rain jacket in winter, a towel and your own toiletries, plus any medication you need. Sheets and bedding are provided.

Please ask the operational manager before having anything sent to the property, so it doesn’t go missing.

Start and finish times depend on your roster, which is agreed with the operational manager. Market days (Wednesday and Thursday) start early, because everything needs to be set up before we open at 10am.

There’s no curfew, but quiet hours are 9:00pm to 7:00am – no loud talking, music or gatherings during that time.

Yes – your free time is your own. If you’ll be away overnight or for a few days, please let the operational manager know so we know you’re safe and can plan the roster.

Let the operational manager know as early as possible. People and animals rely on the roster, so please don’t skip or swap duties without approval.

Sign in and out every time you volunteer – at the sign-in recorder near the market until our volunteer app is live. Your recorded hours are used for your hours letter.

Yes. Many of the people we help are doing it tough, including people experiencing homelessness. Treat everyone with kindness and respect, keep what you learn about them confidential and never take photos of customers.

Photos of the property and your own experience are fine, but never photograph customers or the people we help, and ask before photographing other volunteers.

Keep your valuables with you or locked in your vehicle. Happy Pantry can’t take responsibility for personal belongings, so we recommend travel insurance that covers them.

Yes, you can use the shared fridges – label your food and keep them clean and organised.

Ask the operational manager about power on the property when you apply or arrive.

Your free time is your own, as long as it doesn’t clash with your roster. Make sure any paid work fits your visa conditions.

Usually a chat first, then a verbal or written warning. Serious breaches – such as animal neglect, aggression, drugs or repeated noise – can mean being asked to leave straight away. Full details are in the Terms & Conditions.

The operational manager is your main contact for anything – roster, food, supplies, accommodation or any concern.

Tell the operational manager or an animal-care supervisor straight away. Animal care is taken very seriously.

Wear closed-toe shoes and practical clothes you don’t mind getting dirty. In summer, a hat and sun protection are a must, and we’ll provide any safety gear you need. Summer attire should be neat, modest and appropriate for a family-friendly environment – please make sure your clothing gives reasonable coverage and is suitable for representing Happy Pantry in a professional manner.

Yes – backpackers and travellers from all over the world volunteer with us. You just need to be 18 or over and have a visa that allows you to volunteer in Australia.

Live-in volunteering needs a minimum stay of 4 weeks. For shorter or local volunteering, see our Volunteering at Happy Pantry page – we always welcome help on market days and at events.

Apply right here on this page: 1) read the Terms & Conditions, 2) fill in the application form with your dates and details, 3) tick the agreement and type your name to sign, 4) pay the $50 contribution by card. You’ll get an email with a copy of everything, and Happy Pantry Baldivis Community Support Inc. will email you once your stay is approved.

Once you’re approved: make sure your visa allows you to volunteer, organise travel and health insurance, plan how you’ll get to Baldivis, pack the things on our “What should I bring?” list, and let us know if your arrival date or time changes. On your first day we’ll do an induction and show you everything.

Contact the operational manager at admin@happypantry.org.au. You can also reply to any email we send you about your application.

Yes – we give you a letter on Happy Pantry letterhead confirming the dates you stayed and the hours you volunteered. For natural-disaster recovery work in a declared area, that volunteer record is exactly the evidence Home Affairs looks for. We can’t describe volunteering as paid employment, so for ordinary paid specified work you’d use your employer’s payslips – check the Home Affairs website for what evidence suits your situation.

Baldivis (6171) sits inside greater Perth, so it isn’t in the regional band used for ordinary specified work. The areas we serve further south are in the south-west regional band (6200–6799), and for natural-disaster recovery Home Affairs sets eligibility by the area it declares. Eligible postcodes can change, so confirm the current list on the Home Affairs website.

Your letter shows the actual dates and hours you signed in and out, so make sure you record every shift. We can only confirm hours that are in the sign-in record.

Yes, wifi is available on the property. Phones are still restricted during volunteering hours for safety, so use them on breaks and after your shift.

Yes – there are hot showers, and there are no strict shower times. The shower and toilet are shared, so please clean up after every use and leave them ready for the next person.

Yes. Hi-vis and any other safety gear you need are available from the operational manager. Please bring your own closed-toe shoes.

There’s no fixed maximum – stays can be extended with approval. To keep staying on the property, you need to keep volunteering the agreed hours (unpaid), which go towards your accommodation and food.

No. This is a volunteer exchange, not a job – you volunteer in exchange for somewhere to stay and food, and there are no wages. Please don’t ask for or accept payment for your volunteering.

No experience is needed. We’ll show you how to do each task safely. A willing attitude, reliability and being a good team player matter more than skills.

Yes. You volunteer about 35 hours a week (never more than 38 in any 7 days), so you’ll have free time each week. Your roster and days off are agreed with the operational manager.

We strongly recommend it. Medical treatment, hospital stays and ambulance transport in Australia can be very expensive for visitors, and Medicare may not cover you. Make sure your insurance covers you while volunteering.

Tell the operational manager straight away, even for a small injury, so it can be recorded and looked after. In an emergency call 000. Please let us know in your application about any medical condition or allergy we should be aware of.

Yes. Each person needs to fill in their own application and agreement. Mention who you’re travelling with in the “Anything else” box so we can try to fit you in on the same dates.

Yes – you need to be 18 or older to stay with us as a live-in volunteer.

As early as you can – a few weeks ahead is ideal, as places can be limited. Choose your dates in the form, and tell us if they’re flexible.

Yes. Talk to the operational manager during your stay – extensions are approved by Happy Pantry Baldivis Community Support Inc. To keep staying on the property you need to keep volunteering the agreed hours (unpaid), which go towards your accommodation and food.

Yes. Volunteers who complete their stay and follow the house rules can ask for a reference, and a letter confirming the dates and hours volunteered.

Your $50 deposit covers sheets, bedding and laundry. Ask the operational manager how laundry works on the property when you arrive.

We take safety seriously: everyone on the property follows the same house rules, and there are clear contacts if anything worries you. As with any travel, tell a friend or family member where you are staying and share our address with them.

Perth has hot, dry summers (often over 35°C) and cool, wet winters. Bring a hat, sunscreen and a water bottle in summer, and warm layers and a rain jacket in winter.

Happy Pantry is run by Baldivis Community Support Inc., a registered charity. We rescue good food that would otherwise go to waste and share it with people doing it tough through our community market, box deliveries and street outreach.

Yes – reply to your confirmation email or email admin@happypantry.org.au as soon as you know. Changes depend on availability.

No – you can apply directly through this page. If you are a WWOOF member, add your membership number in the form.

Talk to the operational manager early – most issues can be sorted out with a chat. Either of us can end the arrangement if it isn’t working; we just ask that you give notice where you can and leave on good terms.

You can end your stay at any time. Please give at least 3 days’ notice where you can so we can adjust the roster. The $50 linen and cleaning bond is refundable: you’re responsible for keeping your room clean and laundering your bedding before you leave, and the bond is returned after a quick room inspection, provided it’s left clean, tidy and free from damage.