Work With Us

"I love working in the outdoors and broadening my cultural knowledge. In the morning, I wake up and I’m excited to go to work. I’m glad I took up the opportunity to work at the Nature Parks”. Shani, Environment Ranger. 

Join our team

Employees at Phillip Island Nature Parks all work towards the same goal - protecting nature for wildlife and inspiring people to act. As the largest employer on Phillip Island, our organisation provides a variety of rewarding career paths and opportunities catering to all kinds of skillsets. Our people are enthusiastic, committed, and professional in what they do. They undertake a range of activities across the conservation, research, visitor experience and tourism sectors. If you choose to work with us, you will work with an enthusiastic team of people who are committed to the protection of our beautiful natural environment.

Our People

At Phillip Island Nature Parks, we are committed to fostering a safe and inclusive culture. We recognise the values, diversity of the culture, beliefs, practices, customs, physical and intellectual abilities and life experiences of people and are committed to ensuring our workplace is free of discrimination.

We welcome applications from people with diverse skills & experience, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, people with disabilities, people that identify as LGBTIQ+, and people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.

We offer flexible work arrangements for our team including parents, carers, people with disabilities and employees impacted by family violence. The Nature Parks is a child-safe environment. Everyone at Nature Parks is responsible for the care and protection of children in accordance with our Child Protection and Safety Policy and Code of Conduct.

Read Phillip Island Nature Parks Enterprise Agreement 2021 - 2024

Our Work

A variety of roles exist across our organisation, including:

• Scientific research

• Environment management (environment rangers)

• Ground services and maintenance

• Frontline customer service – retail and admissions

• Education rangers

• Visitor Experience rangers

• Marketing

• Administration

• Health and Safety

Our staff contribute to the overall health and wellbeing of our organisation through active participation in Occupational Health and Safety, Vision and Values, Sustainability and Social committees. We are a 7-day week operation requiring full time and part-time staff, 365 days of the year. Our hours of operation mean staff may work during the day or in the evening and we offer flexibility in hours.

Scientific research

Our research scientists and technical specialists maintain a world-leading research program on little penguins; undertake research-led management of Australian fur seals; management of coastal birds such as the hooded plover, crested terns & kelp gulls and enhance the reputation of our organisation through publications of research and supporting PhD students. The team collaborate and lead in threatened species management through the protection of existing species potential reintroductions of regionally threatened species. We employ scientifically qualified people with specific experience seabirds or coastal birds, mammals or quantitative ecology, however, we also support university students undertaking honours, masters or PhD.

Environment Management

Our environment staff are involved in habitat rehabilitation and revegetation which is important for our little penguins, shearwaters and other shorebirds; pest and animal control; wildlife protection and rehabilitation and interpretation and education. They are also involved in visitor management and supporting field volunteers. Working in our environment team you will need a qualification in land and conservation management, environment or natural resource management.

Ground Services and Maintenance

Maintaining our facilities, grounds and equipment is important for the ongoing activities of our business. The skills required by these staff includes building/carpentry, garden/lawn maintenance and cleaning.

Frontline Customer service – retail and admissions

You will see our frontline staff selling tickets and providing information about the Nature Parks to our visitors while our retail staff will be providing information on products and serving our visitors as they shop in one of our four stores. Stock control and management are also key skills required in retail. Staff customer service skills are of high quality and they need to understand different cultures.

Education Rangers

Leading school groups on educational tours is the responsibility of our education rangers who have either teaching or adult education qualifications or interpretation skills. They also develop tours for the Penguin parade and assist with other environmental activities.

Visitor Experience/Engagement Rangers

Our Visitor Experience and Engagement rangers showcase our little penguin at the Penguin Parade as well as assisting visitors each night. The skills they require include interpretation, customer service, communication and crowd management.

Administration

We employ a range of people in administration including, people and culture, financial services, reception and executive services, marketing and occupational health and safety. While the skills of these staff are varied, they do all require sound communication skills, a sound understanding and experience in their field as well as the capacity to work with staff across a multi-site, multi-faceted organisation.

Joining our team provides rewarding career opportunities, personal development, and the chance to contribute to the conservation of Phillip Island's wildlife and environment.
Any current employment opportunities at Phillip Island Nature Parks will be listed below, keep an eye out for future opportunities.

Visitor Experience Officer

Facilities lead

Nursery Assistant

Safety - it's in our nature
Our goal at Phillip Island Nature Parks is to use a proactive approach to risk & injury management, with the aim of becoming incident-free. Part of our commitment is to conduct inductions for all staff, contractors & volunteers in relation to health & safety.

Registration of Contracting Organisations
If you own or administer a business that has been engaged to perform works on behalf of the Phillip Island Nature Parks, you must register your organisation with us and direct ALL of your employees and subcontractors who will be undertaking work on your behalf at the Nature Parks to complete their individual safety inductions.

Work cannot be carried out until the organisation registration (only one registration required for each organisation) is completed and approved by the Nature Parks, and your employees and subcontractors have completed our safety induction and are issued with a valid induction certificate.

There is no cost to complete the induction and there is no limit on how many of your employees or your subcontractors may be inducted.

Register your organisation

Please note: you can not use the same email address twice. If you use an email address to register your organisation, you must use another email address when completing the safety induction.

Contractors Working For The Nature Parks
The Phillip Island Nature Park requires all contractors, subcontractors, labour-hire companies, and their employees who are performing work for, or on behalf of the Nature Parks, to complete our online safety induction.

Please ensure your contracting organisation has completed the above step (organisation registration) before attempting to complete the safety induction.

Individual Contractor Safety Inductions
Once your organisation is registered and approved, you and your employees will need to complete your individual safety inductions. Please note that sole traders/suppliers who have already registered their organisation must also complete the individual safety induction.

Note: every person completing our safety induction must have their own unique email address.

Complete your safety induction

More Information:

• OH&S Policy
• Contractors handbook
• Code of Conduct Policy

Contact us:

• ohs@penguins.org.au

The Nature Parks supports Year 10 work experience through a partnership with Bass Coast College. The program allows students to gain unique experience in our eco-tourism and conservation teams. Students apply and are appointed by the school. 

Program 1. Tourism Program

Students in this program spend time working as a farm assistant on Churchill Island Heritage Farm. Following direction from experienced staff, students will assist in the care and maintenance of farm animals and their environment. Work is outdoors and can be physical.

Program 2. Conservation Program

Students in this program work in the field with our conservation team. Following direction from experienced staff, students may undertake tasks such as weeding, planting and revegetation works. This work is outdoors and can be very physical.

VCE/VM Placements

We take up to three VCE/VM placement students per year on a case-by-case basis. If you are interested in joining our team for your placement, please reach out to, volunteers@penguins.org.au.
Please include:

• information about yourself
• the duration of your placement
• days and times of your placement
• what area of the Nature Parks, or type of work, you are interested in.
• contact details for your school/course coordinator.

Tertiary Work Placement Opportunities – 80 hours, two weeks, fulltime

The Nature Parks offers two different work placement opportunities.  These placements are fulltime over two weeks and students gain 80 hours toward their course placement hours. All work placements are advertised and filled directly from tertiary institutions that have existing agreements with the Nature Parks.  We do not take direct enquiries.  

Conservation Weeks Placements

Students join our conservation team in land management activities to protect and restore Bunurong Country. Students participating in this placement help protect nature for wildlife and may assist with planting, weeding, seed collection, propagation, habitat monitoring and other work. This is an outdoor role, held in all weather conditions and can be very physical (walking long distances, bending, carrying, standing, and using tools). Students work in a team of up to 8 placement students at a time. Our current partners are Deakin University and University of Melbourne, and all places are filled directly from these universities.

 Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre Placements

Through a partnership with the Veterinary School at University of Melbourne the Nature Parks offers summer placement opportunities at our Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre. The university appoints one student per allocated two-week placement. Students completing this placement gain experience as they work with experienced staff to observe and support care for sick and injured native wildlife. Please be aware this is not a clinical setting but does provide an opportunity to gain an understanding of wildlife care.  

Tertiary Internships – 160 hours, three months part time 

The Nature Parks offers a range of internships each year. These internships usually run for 3 months and require a weekday commitment of 2-3 days per week. Students gain 160 hours toward their course placement hours. Places are advertised and filled directly from tertiary institutions that have existing agreements with the Nature Parks. The Nature Parks do not take direct applications. These roles can change annually.

Cameras in Conservation Internship

Interns in this role worked with our conservation team to collect and analyse field data. This work helps monitor both native wildlife and introduced species and is essential to help inform future conservation outcomes and decisions. This internship provides industry experience in the fields of ecology and conservation.

Beach Nesting Birds Internship

Interns in this role help achieve our conservation outcomes by monitoring wildlife and introduced species with a focus on beach nesting birds, including hooded plovers. Interns assist the beach nesting birds team with conservation actions such as setting up nest refuges for endangered shorebirds and leading camera trapping projects on nest sites.

Volunteers, something for everyone!

Phillip Island Nature Parks volunteers help protect nature for wildlife and inspire others to act. Volunteers work directly with the Nature Parks team, assisting with visitor experience, threatened species monitoring, conservation and research, nursery and revegetation programs, wildlife research, rehabilitation, and care.

Note: Volunteer roles do not involve direct handling of wildlife.

Current Volunteers Refer to your My Impact portal/app for information on current opportunities, and volunteer resources.

Who can become a volunteer?

Phillip Island Nature Parks vision is 'an island haven where nature and people thrive together' and the community is an important partner in this vision.
Through our commitment to diversity and inclusion, we welcome people with diverse backgrounds, experiences, and abilities to volunteer with us. Each volunteer role has different requirements and commitments, and our Volunteer Coordinator is happy to support you to identify a role that suits your abilities and interests.  

All volunteers are required to:

• Register on the Nature Parks volunteer database, called Better Impact, and create a profile on My Impact (user interface of Better Impact).
• Complete the online induction and training (links provided on registration – check your junk folder for a welcome email).
• Provide a copy of a current valid Victorian Working with Children Check (WWCC) which is free for volunteers. Volunteers must be over 18 to obtain a WWCC. VIT registration is also accepted.
• Commit to ongoing regular volunteering with the Nature Parks, ideally regular fortnightly shifts over 6-12 months or more.
• Manage their own sign up, volunteer hours, and other activities using their My Impact profile.
• Adhere to relevant policies, procedures and OHS requirements while volunteering.
• Know and adhere to requirements of the Nature Parks Way and Code of Conduct

Please note volunteers at the Nature Parks are not responsible for the direct care, handling or feeding of native animals.

What are the benefits of volunteering?

Nature Parks volunteers contribute to both the community and our ecotourism, research, and conservation outcomes. Many of our roles have a strong social aspect either in the form of talking to visitors or working with our close-knit volunteer teams. Volunteers receive the same discounts and benefits as staff, including admission to our sites, discounted staff meals, and access to our employee assistance program. We celebrate our volunteer team at several events throughout the year, culminating in our annual National Volunteer Week event.

Volunteer Opportunities 

Some of our most popular volunteer opportunities are listed below. We do have other opportunities come up from time to time. These are promoted to all registered volunteers via our newsletter and email. Once on board, volunteers are always welcome to take up new opportunities provided you complete an induction and meet any qualifications required.

Engage with visitors from across Australia and around the world in our Visitor Experience roles. These roles are based across our four attractions:

The Penguin Parade: Join our visitors before the Penguin Parade and help set expectations for a high-quality experience and build their understanding of the life of the little penguins. Once the penguins reach the water's edge, volunteers may be invited to assist with the nightly penguin count.

The Koala Conservation Reserve: Hang out on our tree top boardwalks and help our visitors spot the koalas amongst the manna gum trees. You can also head down to the bush stone-curlew aviaries where this threatened species is paving the way to be released back into the wild on Phillip Island (Milawul).

Churchill Island: Chat with visitors about the farming activities, heritage gardens, and life on the island in the Samuel Amess era. Volunteers have the choice to wear historically accurate costumes that are provided by the Nature Parks.

Help us protect nature for wildlife by getting involved in our conservation and research programs. The programs are diverse and include a variety of activities from revegetation, weed control, wildlife monitoring and more. Activities are driven by our conservation priorities and can be seasonal. Please be aware these roles are highly sought after and we often have long waiting lists.

The Barb Martin Bushbank Nursery

Every Wednesday and Thursday the Volunteer team joins our nursery coordinator in propagating native plants for rehabilitation programs that contribute to habitat restoration on Phillip Island (Milawul). Suitable for a range of abilities and needs.

Curlew Custodians

Bush stone-curlews were last seen on Phillip Island in the 1970s.  We are currently working to re-introduce this species to Phillip Island (Milawul) as part of our Threatened Species Plan. The Nature Parks has display aviaries at the Koala Conservation Reserve, and the Curlew Custodian volunteer team support this project by preparing food, tidying the aviaries, and recording observations and behaviour of the birds. This is a popular role and there is a long waiting list.

Hooded Plover Watch

'Hoodies' are small grey and white beach nesting birds. Their breeding season coincides with tourists hitting our beaches, putting their eggs and young at risk. The hooded plover watch helps monitor the birds and the data collected is added to the Birdlife Australia portal. Rangers use this data to track the birds, put signs up warning beach goers of their presence, and to know when the birds are ready for banding. This opportunity is seasonal and available between October and March each year.

To register to volunteer please click on the link below and register on our volunteer management platform, Better Impact, to set up your account. Please provide as much information as possible about your interests. You will receive a “Welcome” email with links to inductions and training. Once you have completed the induction and training your application will be assessed and if suitable added to waiting lists for relevant roles.

We will email you opportunities and invites to induction and training days and keep you up to date while you are on our waiting list. Please note, several of our roles are only recruited annually. 

Sign up and complete an expression of interest

More information

For any inquiries about volunteering or to seek alternatives to our online application process, contact our Volunteer Coordinator at volunteers@penguins.org.au or 0437 476 833.