Doncare initiated placements for undergraduate and postgraduate students with RMIT in 2013. Quality placements help students meet learning outcomes, boost agency service capacity and improve client access to affordable services.

Our strong commitment to building the next generation of Social Workers and Counsellors is evident through our partnerships today:

• Deakin University
• RMIT
• Swinburne University
• Cairnmillar
• Monash University
• La Trobe University
• Australian College of Applied Professions (ACAP)
• The MIECAT Institute Inc.

Doncare recruits student counsellors, art therapists and social workers twice a year, aligning with university semesters. Our strong university partnerships and highly regarded clinical supervision often result in more student referrals than we can accommodate.

Leveraging capacity of student placements together with a 67% retention of qualified volunteer counsellors post placement has been paramount to resourcing a low-cost service.

In 2024, 51 counselling volunteers delivered 76% of the 2,253 counselling appointments provided to clients.