Our History

AVI recently celebrated 70 years of International Volunteering for Development. Take a walk with AVI through history as we shine a light on seven decades of people-to-people development and the transformational impact of this work as well as the countless life-long friendships made along the way.

1951 The First Australian Volunteer

Herb Feith, a graduate student at the University of Melbourne, pioneered the concept of international volunteering. Indonesian delegates inspired his action when they requested technical experts to work in Indonesia – not just to share their knowledge – but to participate in the life of the newly independent country. Feith responded and worked as a translator with Indonesia’s Ministry of Information. With the support of his wife, Betty Feith, several young Australians followed in his footsteps and the Volunteer Graduate Scheme (VGS) was established, the first incarnation of AVI.

1961 Overseas Service Bureau is Born

Herb paved the way for the Overseas Service Bureau (OSB) to be formed in 1961. The OSB encouraged Australians to serve in the developing countries of Asia, Africa and the Pacific.

1965 The Australian Government Commences Decades of Significant Support To International Volunteering

The Australian Government’s significant support for international volunteering commenced in 1963 through the provision of funding to the Overseas Service Bureau (OSB) for a newly launched program called Australian Volunteers Abroad. In 1963 the first 14 Australian Volunteers Abroad (AVA) were selected and departed the following year for Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tanzania and Nigeria.

1968 The Australian Volunteer Program Expands

Australian volunteers worked in Tanzania, Nigeria, Vanuatu, India, Zambia, Malaysia, New Caledonia, Tonga, Fiji and Singapore in hospitals, universities and schools, government agencies, community organisations and leading international non-government organisations.

1985 Supporting Communities In Asia

By 1985, Australian volunteers were already working directly with local partners in Vietnam and Cambodia. This followed the period in the 1970s and 1980s when volunteers worked in international programs to support Vietnamese and Cambodian refugees in Hong Kong, Malaysia and Thailand.

1986 Supporting Communities In Africa

Civil unrest across the African continent created five million refugees. In response, Australian volunteers worked with Zimbabweans in Botswana between 86 – 89.

1988 Expansion To Latin America

In 1988, the Australian Volunteers Abroad program commenced volunteer placements in Latin America.