As a curious New Zealander, how does one volunteer with a government department? I had always assumed it would have to be strictly a contractor type relationship
I sent an email to a specific conservation project, asking if they happen to need any software help at the moment and they did. We got chatting, agreed on some goals and I got working. I signed their volunteer agreement form which sets out some conditions (nothing unsurprising). That's it really.
Ah, interesting! I had just assumed that most departments wouldn't have a process for handling this kind of stuff or that it would be considered more costly in terms of getting a signed agreement, coordinating etc etc