The people involved

There are many ways that people can be involved in a community or not-for-profit organisation. 
The people involved
The people involved in not-for-profit organisations are often their greatest assets. It's important to understand the complex laws that apply to your organisation's relationship with all the different people involved. This video is about legal issues in managing volunteers, produced with support from the Victoria Law Foundation.

A person involved with your organisation might be:

  • a member
  • employed by the organisation
  • a volunteer
  • a funder
  • a donor, or
  • a service user

Special legal obligations and rights apply to each of these relationships.

It can sometimes be hard to identify which of the relationship applies, and in some cases one person may be engaging with your organisation in more than one way (for example, one person could be a member, donor and service user of a medical support not-for-profit).

Read the information in each of the 'people involved' sub-pages to help you identify the types of relationships that are involved and the laws that apply.

Whistleblower protection laws

If Whistleblower protection laws under the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) (Corporations Act) apply to your organisation, you should consider how to manage any risks that this may present. In particular, people involved in your organisation may be protected as whistleblowers.

For more information on whistleblower protection laws, see our whistleblower webpage. 

Governance and duties

For more information on governance and duties, go to the Governance webpage.