Volunteer

If you would like to be the difference every kid deserves please register your interest below.

Volunteers need to be at least 18 years of age and opportunities are only available Monday to Friday during business hours. For further information please read our FAQs and Conditions of Volunteering to find out all the information you need to know about volunteering with us.

Please note: As we approach the festive season, our team is more committed than ever to making Queensland Children’s Hospital a place of joy and comfort this Christmas. For this reason, while we are still accepting new volunteer applications, new volunteers will not commence their shifts until early 2026.

The last day to commence volunteering in 2025 will be Friday 21 November 2025, with onboarding and first shifts recommencing from Monday 19 January 2026. Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions – our team would love to help!

Please note: New volunteer interviews will not commence until early 2026.

If you would like to be a part of our Paw Play program, please register your interest below.

Children’s Hospital Foundation has relaunched one of its most loved programs, bringing back the joy and comfort of support dogs to Queensland Children’s Hospital patients under a fresh new name: Paw Play.

Paw Play is currently in a pilot phase, designed to grow the role of support dogs within the hospital environment. Each week, accredited dogs and their volunteer handlers will make bedside visits across the hospital, offering moments of connection, distraction and calm to children facing some of the toughest battles of their lives.

Volunteers need to be at least 18 years of age and opportunities are only available Monday to Friday during business hours. For further information, please read our FAQs and Conditions of Volunteering to find out all the information you need to know about volunteering with us.

Please note: As we approach the festive season, our team is more committed than ever to making Queensland Children’s Hospital a place of joy and comfort this Christmas. For this reason, while we are still accepting new volunteer applications, new volunteer interviews will not commence until early 2026.

Compliance Requirements

To ensure the safety and wellbeing of patients, families, volunteers and dogs, all Paw Play volunteers must meet the following compliance requirements.

For the Volunteer (Handler)

• Current Blue Card
• Vaccination evidence for:
  • Measles, mumps and rubella
  • Chicken pox (varicella)
  • Whooping cough (pertussis)

Dog Compliance Requirements

• Current C7 Dog Vaccination Certificate
• Annual health check completed by an accredited veterinarian.
• The dog must not be on a raw food diet.
• Completion of accredited dog therapy training and certification delivered by a Children’s Hospital Foundation-approved provider.
  • This training is a six week program delivered across Saturdays and Sundays.
  • The handler must attend all training sessions.
  • Further information about this requirement will be discussed during your interview.

Children’s Hospital Foundation

Thank you for your interest in joining our PawPlay volunteer team. Please complete the form below so we can learn more about you and your dog.

Please note: New volunteer interviews will not commence until early 2026.

We embrace diversity, celebrate our differences, and inspire each person to be their authentic self at Children’s Hospital Foundation. As we strive to represent the communities we serve, we welcome and actively encourage applications from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, culturally and linguistically diverse people, people living with a disability, the LGBTQI community, people with neurological differences, of mature age, as well as parents and carers.

As such, if you require any adjustments to submit your application, please get in touch with us at [email protected] or 07 3606 6100.