A volunteering opportunity involving wombats and a 45-minute walk in a nearby nature reserve might all sound too good to be true.
But that's exactly what Wombat Rescue's new pilot program is providing recruits.
The hyper-local Community Mange Treatment Program trains residents to treat wombat mange in "their patch" and is attracting new volunteers.
The volunteers monitor "burrow flaps", which deliver a single dose of medicines Cydectin and Bravecto to wombats as they push through the flap to enter their burrow.
It's an effective, though not perfect, approach to combating the tiny mange-causing mite, which was introduced to Australia around 200 years ago and has since affected more than 100 species.
Mange has devastated wombat populations, including Tasmania's Narawntapu National Park, where more than 95 per cent have been wiped out.
Yolandi Vermaak, who founded Wombat Rescue in 2018, said in the ACT, mange was "absolutely everywhere".
Of the roughly 600 reported sightings in the ACT government's online portal, only a quarter of the animals were healthy.
Micro-volunteering
Ms Vermaak said the new group was harnessing community passion by adapting concepts of micro-volunteering, which recognises that people are more likely to volunteer their time in bite-sized chunks.
She said that flexibility was key to the initiative's success, given a lack of time is frequently cited as the biggest barrier to volunteering.
"These people don't necessarily want to become long-term volunteers, but they are passionate about 'their' area and helping 'their' wombats," she said.
British expat Kate Stewart was one of the first to sign up.
She knew very little about wombats until she found an injured joey and called Wombat Rescue.
That same desire to help compels her to volunteer.
"Sunday mornings, we're out here treating the burrows and mapping," Ms Stewart said.
"We know that we're helping these poor wombats."
A full-time balancing act
Occasionally, volunteers are called out to incidents or help with wombat rehabilitation.
Shelby Hind juggles full-time work alongside the job of frequent wombat carer.
Sometimes she takes joeys to her public service job to feed them a bottle throughout the day.
For Ms Hind, balancing so many things is just part of doing her bit.
"That's the beauty of [the pilot program]. It's whatever you have time for."
While Ms Vermaak said it was unlikely the ACT would ever be mange free, Ms Hind is more optimistic.
"That's obviously the long-term dream, but for now, we're doing our part."
"If one volunteer can jump on board and treat one wombat or come to a treatment program like this, once a month, that's an enormous help for us."