Street Side Medics is powered by a skilled medical volunteer workforce delivering GP-led healthcare to people experiencing homelessness and severe housing insecurity. To sustain high-quality, compassionate care in complex environments, we must invest in our volunteers’ capability, confidence, and wellbeing- so they can keep showing up, stay safe, and deliver stronger patient outcomes. This project ...
Street Side Medics
Street Side Medics- Volunteer Education
GOAL
$15,000
Australia > National / Multi-state > Metro and Regional
Field of Interest
- Education/training and employment
- Health/wellbeing and medical research
Target Population
- People experiencing or at risk of homelessness
- People experiencing socio-economic disadvantage or vulnerability
Street Side Medics
Street Side Medics is a GP-led, mobile medical service delivering free, compassionate healthcare to people experiencing homelessness.
Our service operates from a mobile medical van which ensures that we are able to reach the homeless community across multiple locations. Each doctor in our van is an RACGP accredited General practitioner and our vans are fitted with the necessary equipment to provide primary healthcare services, to the standard of a normal general practice.
Furthermore, we have partnered with a number of homeless services in areas with demographically high concentrations of homelessness in order to improve patient participation. Finally, our services will be of no personal charge to any patients regardless of healthcare status.
Our primary objective is to provide healthcare services which may include but are not limited to:
- Health examinations
- Diagnosis and treatment of medical conditions
- Producing and implementing health care plans
- Immunisations
- Pathology services
- Providing nutritional advice
- Minor surgical procedures
- Referring the homeless to appropriate medical subspecialties
Project Summary
Street Side Medics is powered by a skilled medical volunteer workforce delivering GP-led healthcare to people experiencing homelessness and severe housing insecurity. To sustain high-quality, compassionate care in complex environments, we must invest in our volunteers’ capability, confidence, and wellbeing- so they can keep showing up, stay safe, and deliver stronger patient outcomes.
This project will support a structured Volunteer Training and Wellbeing program across our clinics. It includes practical onboarding and three face-to-face training sessions each year, covering trauma-informed care, de-escalation, boundaries, safeguarding, cultural safety, privacy, and clinic workflows. Funding will also strengthen clinical and safety support through clear protocols, role clarity, and scenario-based training, ensuring volunteers know what to do when situations escalate or become clinically complex. We will bring in specialist guest speakers to build confidence in key areas of unmet need- alcohol and other drugs (AOD), sexual health and STIs, and harm minimisation- so our teams can respond safely and appropriately. Finally, the program will invest in wellbeing initiatives, including access to supervision and support, plus resources and courses that reduce burnout and vicarious trauma.
When volunteers are well-trained and supported, clinics are safer and calmer, patient engagement improves, and care becomes more consistent with better follow-through and continuity. Volunteer retention also increases, reducing recruitment churn and protecting service capacity. Ultimately, this investment strengthens the patient experience- because people are met by confident, supported teams- ensuring Street Side Medics can deliver safe, high-quality, compassionate healthcare for the long term.
Project Outcomes
We are trying to strengthen Street Side Medics’ volunteer workforce so we can deliver consistently safe, high-quality, compassionate GP-led care to people experiencing homelessness and severe housing insecurity. Specifically, we aim to lift volunteer capability and confidence in complex clinical and social situations, improve safety and role clarity in clinics, and protect volunteer wellbeing so our teams can sustain the work over time.
We will know we have achieved this when we see measurable improvements across three areas: volunteer capability, clinic safety and quality, and volunteer wellbeing and retention.
Capability: Volunteers complete onboarding and three annual face-to-face training sessions, with demonstrated increases in confidence and competence (measured through pre/post training surveys and short skills check-ins). We will track participation rates and the proportion of volunteers who feel “confident” or “very confident” in areas such as trauma-informed care, de-escalation, boundaries, safeguarding, cultural safety, privacy, and workflows.
Safety and quality: Clinics run more smoothly with fewer incidents and clearer escalation pathways. We will monitor safety reports, critical incident frequency, and debrief outcomes, and track improvements in adherence to protocols, documentation quality, and appropriate referrals and follow-up.
Wellbeing and retention: Volunteers feel better supported and are more likely to stay. We will measure access to supervision/support, self-reported burnout and vicarious trauma indicators, and volunteer retention rates (e.g., 6-12 month retention), alongside reduced recruitment churn and fewer last-minute cancellations.
Together, these indicators will show training and wellbeing are improving safety, continuity of care, workforce resilience, and patient outcomes.
Budget Breakdown
TOTAL BUDGET: $30,000
FUNDING
| Funding source | Amount |
|---|---|
| Street Side Medics Cash Fund | $15,000 |
| Funding gap | $15,000 |
EXPENSES
| Expense item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Professional Health Educators (Sessional Facilitation & Program Delivery) | $12,000 |
| Venues (6 locations) | $12,000 |
| Catering | $3,000 |
| Volunteer Attendance Support | $2,000 |
| Admininistrational Costs | $1,000 |
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