Every year, around 6.1 million Australian adults take on some kind of voluntary work. Their efforts bring nearly $300 billion dollars to the Australian economy.

Keep reading for more volunteering statistics from Australia as we answer questions like “How does volunteering benefit Australia?” and “What is the value of Australian volunteer organisations?”.

Ten Fascinating Volunteering Facts

  • Around 6 million Australians volunteer annually.
  • Volunteers annually contribute around $290 billion to the Australian economy.
  • 85% of job recruiters believe volunteering is just as credible as paid work.
  • 78% of Australian companies have employee volunteering programs.
  • The most popular volunteering activity is fundraising/sales, with 23%.
  • 25.7% of people with disabilities engage in formal volunteer work.
  • 38.1% of Australian volunteers have conducted voluntary work for at least ten years.
  • In 2021, there were around 144,159 volunteer firefighters across Australia.
  • 65.9% of volunteers stopped volunteering between February and April 2020.
  • 69% of all volunteers reported having a family history of volunteering.

General Volunteering Statistics in Australia

1. Around 6 million Australians volunteer annually. 

(Australian Institute of Health and Welfare)

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare conducted a survey to find out how many Australians volunteer each year. They discovered that nearly one in three Australians over the age of 15 participate in volunteering. That’s a significant increase compared to the 3.6 million people, or 19% of the population aged 15 and above, that participated in volunteering in 2016.

2. 65.9% of volunteers stopped volunteering between February and April 2020.

(Volunteering Australia)

According to research conducted by the Australian National University, two-thirds of volunteers in Australia stopped volunteering in the said period. These numbers were greatly impacted by the implementation of pandemic restrictions.

According to another survey conducted in April 2020, 80% of organisations in Australia had to cease collaboration with volunteers due to COVID-19 measures.

3. Nearly 6 million Australians volunteer through an organisation each year. 

More precisely, 5.897 million people, or 29.5% of the population aged 15 years and over, engages in formal volunteering. The rates are almost identical across all Australian states, with Tasmania leading with 34.2%.

Source: General Social Survey, ABS, 2019 Table 15

4. In 2019, formal volunteering suffered a decline of 7.4% compared to 2010.

The rate of volunteering through an organisation amounted to 28.8% in 2019 for people aged 18 and older. That’s a considerable decline compared to results from 2010, when the formal volunteering rate for the same age group came to 36.2%.

The decline was most evident for women, whose rate fell from 38.1% in 2010 to 28.1% in 2019.

5. Regional areas in Australia have a 4% higher rate of formal volunteering than capital cities.

The rate of formal volunteering in regional areas is 34% which amounts to 2.06 million people. On the other hand, the rate in capital cities is estimated to be 30%, that is, 3.74 million volunteers.

6. 49% of Australians provided support to non-household members in 2020.

(McCrindle)

One in two Australians offered help to those not living in their household during the pandemic. The types of support that were offered were:

  • emotional support – 54%
  • transport or running errands – 38%
  • domestic work, home maintenance, or gardening – 37%.

7. 57% of volunteers in Australia stated that they volunteer to help others.

(ourcommunity.com.au)

According to research conducted by ABS, more than half of volunteers work to help others. Additionally, personal satisfaction was another reason for 44% of volunteers. Similarly, 36% of volunteers were driven to volunteer because they wanted to do something worthwhile.

8. 35% of volunteers started volunteering because they were asked by someone.

(Australian Bureau of Statistics)

Similarly, 29% of volunteers decided to conduct voluntary work because they knew someone already involved in volunteering. The media and advertisements are not so successful at recruiting workers, with only 5% of volunteers recruited in this manner.

9. 69% of all volunteers reported having a family history of volunteering.

(Volunteering Australia)Nearly 70% of volunteers reported having parents who engaged in volunteer work in the past and being personally involved in a volunteering organisation in their childhood. However, volunteers with no previous family history of such participation make up 21% of the total.

Volunteering Demographics

10. Nearly 6.5 million Australians aged 15 years and over provided informal volunteering support in 2019.

This accounts for 33.4% or 6.676 million Australian people. In addition, this makes informal volunteering rates higher than formal volunteering rates. The same pattern can be noticed in virtually all parts of Australia.

11. Members of the 25–39 age group had the highest rate of informal volunteering with 38.8%.

According to a General Social Survey conducted by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, nearly 40% of informal volunteers consisted of young people belonging to the 25–39 age group. Let’s take a look at the average age of volunteers in Australia that follow right behind:

  • 15–24 years – 36.5%
  • 40–54 years – 34.0%
  • 55–69 years – 27.3%

As can be seen, the youth show the best volunteer statistics with the bigger percentage of informal volunteering, while the incidence of volunteering amongst older Australian adults is present in the areas of welfare, community, and health.

12. The percentage of women who formally volunteer fell from 28.5% in 2019 to 26.3% in 2020.

The decline is even greater among the male population, as the proportion of men who volunteered fell from 30.7% to 23.1%. While these statistics indicate a steady decline in formal volunteering across Australia, the reason for such an occurrence is believed to be the virus pandemic.

13. Informal volunteering among women fell from 33.9% in 2019 to 31.8% in 2020.

As can be seen, informal volunteering remained within similar parameters during the pandemic. The rate of informal volunteering remained especially stable among men, with 32.6% in 2019 and 32.4% in 2020. 

In a similar manner, the number of men who volunteered for ten years or more remained steady between 2019 and 2020, while the number of women who volunteered for the same duration fell from 1.247 million to 1.115 million. This indicates that the impact of the pandemic affected long-term female volunteers more than males.

14. 25.7% of people with disabilities engage in formal volunteer work.

People with disabilities make up nearly one in four, more precisely, 24% of all people in formal volunteering. When it comes to informal volunteering, 31.9% of people with disabilities undertook informal volunteering, making up 27% of all people volunteering informally. 

Latest statistics reveal that there are 4.4 million Australians living with some form of disability, and 44% of them can’t find a job due to their disability.

15. 18.9% of non-native English speakers volunteered formally, while native English speakers accounted for 31% of formal volunteering.

According to an ABS study conducted in 2019, non-native English speakers contributed significantly to the Australian formal volunteering community.

Regarding informal volunteering, 34.5% of people whose primary language is English volunteer informally. Comparatively, 27.3% of people whose primary language is another language opt for informal voluntary work.

16.  In 2019, 34.4% of part-time workers conducted volunteer work.

The percentage of full-time workers that are volunteers is slightly lower at 30.7%. Among the unemployed, 23.4% were considered to be volunteers through an organisation, and 40.1% informally.

Finally, people who were not in the labour force accounted for 25.4% of formal volunteers and 24.4% of informal volunteers.

Additionally, according to the welfare statistics, the welfare workforce has increased by 53%, showing many people in Australia are eager to assist and volunteer in their free time.

17. 37.3% of households comprising couples with children volunteer formally.

Further statistics show that couples with children show slightly lower levels (34.1%) of informal, compared to formal volunteering. Additionally, a lone person is more likely to engage in informal volunteering, at 32.5%. The percentage of other types of households involved in volunteering is presented below.

18. 33.4% of formal volunteers in Australia had obtained a bachelor’s degree or higher level of education.

The proportion of bachelor’s degree-holders aged 15–74 in Australia over the past two decades increased to 50.2% in 2021. 

According to the latest volunteer trends, around a third or 31.5% of volunteers have obtained a diploma. Only a quarter (24.6%) have no post-school qualifications. The rates for informal volunteering are the following:

  • Bachelor’s degree or above – 37.5%
  • Advanced diploma / diploma – 35.5%
  • No post-secondary education – 27.6%.

19. Regarding gross household income, the lowest quintile has a formal volunteering rate of 26.1%.

The lowest quintile is not too far behind those in the highest quintile, whose formal and informal volunteering rates come to 30.0%, and 38.6%. Conversely, the second quintile has one of the lowest volunteering rates, with 23.0% for formal volunteering and 30.0% for informal volunteering.

20. In 2021, there were around 144,159 volunteer firefighters across Australia.

(Statista)

Compared to 2020, we may notice a slight fall in the number of volunteer firefighters. The number fell from 146,582 to 144,159 as the bushfires calmed down in Australia. During that time, the number of volunteers reached a 10-year low.

21. New South Wales has the largest number of volunteer firefighters (71,234).

(The Conversation)

The Australian Capital Territory has the smallest number of volunteer firefighters, a little above 400, which corresponds with the number of people living there. The number of volunteers in firefighting forces in other states is the following:

22. The age profile of volunteer firefighters in Australia is 40–60 years.

(Recruiting and Retaining Volunteer Firefighters in Australasia)

  • Northern Territory Fire and Rescue Service – 780 volunteers
  • South Australian Country Fire Service – 13,271 volunteers
  • Rural Fire Service Queensland – 33,000 volunteers
  • Bushfire Brigades – 19,521 volunteers
  • NSW Rural Fire Service – 71,234 volunteers.

There’s a deficiency of young adults willing to volunteer in firefighting services across Australia. On top of that, birth rates have been decreasing, and since the 1970s, young people have tended to avoid volunteering in Australia due to economic and social pressures.

23. Around 28.3% of volunteers conduct formal volunteer work for 100 hours or more each year. 

There is a difference in the number of hours volunteers work in different sectors. For example, volunteers in emergency services volunteer longer than people in other sectors. 

Two-thirds (67.2%) of emergency service volunteers contribute over 50 hours a year. The table presents each type of Australian volunteer organisation and the hours spent working.

24. 38.1% of Australian volunteers have conducted voluntary work for more than ten years.

When it comes to volunteering for a time period of ten years, women are more likely to volunteer(43%) than men (32.9%). On the other hand, men are more likely to engage in volunteering for less than one year, making up 19.3% for the said period, while women make 11.0%.

25. 85% of job recruiters believe volunteering is just as credible as paid work.

Research shows that volunteering can help people get employed. Additionally, 95% of employers believe that volunteering is a great way to gain real-life experience, while 92% of employers think that volunteers have an advantage in job interviews.

 The Nature of Organisations and Activities

Teaching, instruction, and providing information come second with 15%. Not too far behind are food preparation/serving and coaching/refereeing/judging with 14%. 

Let’s take a look at the other volunteering activities and their popularity in percentages.

Additionally, these types of voluntary activities will actively contribute to fighting food waste which is 7.6 million tonnes of food a year in Australia.

27. Sport and physical recreation organisations were most likely to be chosen by volunteers (39.1%).

The second most common choice was religious organisations with 23.3%, followed by education and training with 21.8%. Sports organisations were chosen mainly by men (47.5%), while women were more likely to choose “parenting, children and youth” and “health and welfare” organisations.

28. In 2019, 50.5% of informal volunteering consisted of emotional support.

While more than half of the volunteers provided their support through emotional availability, other types of practical activities weren’t much behind them. To be precise, transport or running errands was a service provided by 42.4% of informal volunteers, while domestic work, home maintenance, or gardening amounted to 41.9%.

29. There are 4,604 online recruitment advertisements for volunteering in the community services sector.

The community services sector has by far the most significant amount of online advertisements for volunteer work. More precisely, 34% of all online recruitment advertisements target this sector in particular.

Let’s take a look at how other sectors stand:

30. 78% of Australian companies have employee volunteering programs.

The annual State of Corporate Community Investment survey further shows that half of these companies plan to increase their volunteering involvement. 10% of corporate companies intend to start a volunteering program.

31. 71% of volunteer training is done on the job.

The Volunteer Management Progress Report by Johnson T., in 2020, strove to answer the question of what are the current trends in volunteering in Australia regarding obtaining volunteer training. According to this report, volunteer training mostly happens on the job. The other ways training is typically conducted are listed below.

32. In the 2019 reporting year, charities accounted for 11% of total employment in Australia.

(Australian Government)

  • Classroom-based volunteer training  –  63%
  • Paper-based (worksheets, reading)  – 44%
  • Peer mentoring – 38%
  • Email – 25%
  • Online courses – 20%
  • Recorded videos – 19%
  • Webinars or video chats – 8%
  • Online platform – 4%
  • Social media – 3%.

According to Australia Charities Report, charities employ over 1.38 million people in Australia. Nevertheless, half of Australia’s 55,000 charities function without paying their staff.

 The Value and Cost of Volunteering

33. Volunteers are estimated to contribute $290 billion to the Australian economy annually.

(PRO Bono Australia)

Further research on the question of how much do volunteers contribute to the Australian economy shows that volunteering efforts in Australia yield a 450% return for every dollar invested. The value of volunteer work in Australia can especially be noticed in the fields of:

  • Health
  • Education
  • Sport
  • Environmental conservation
  • Arts.

34. Travelling makes up 42% of the personal costs covered by volunteers.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics report on the financial costs of volunteering indicates that traveling is the most considerable personal cost for volunteers.

Additional expenses that volunteers have to cover are as follows:

Bottom Line

Volunteering culture plays a significant role in Australia’s economy and community. Many Australians dedicate hours of their time to volunteering and offering their services either through an organisation or informally. 

  • Phone calls – 32%
  • Meals – 14%
  • Other – 14%
  • Expenditure reimbursement available – 10%
  • Postage – 8%.

By conducting a careful analysis of the volunteering statistics in Australia, we can further work on a better understanding of the influence of voluntary work on Australia’s welfare.

  • Australian Bureau of Statistics
  • Australian Government
  • Australian Institute of Health and Welfare
  • Australian Institute of Health and Welfare
  • Ourcommunity.com.au
  • PRO Bono Australia
  • Recruiting and Retaining
  • Volunteer Firefighters in Australasia
  • Statista
  • The Conversation
  • Volunteering Australia
  • McCrindle