Sourced from the Australian Bureau of Statistics 'Voluntary Work Survey' 2006 unless otherwise indicated. View the full report on the ABS website here

Who volunteers?

  • 5.4 million adult Australians (34%)
  • Slightly more women (36%) than men (32%)
  • 44% of those aged 35 to 44 yrs volunteer, the highest participation level of any age group
  • 34% of people in full-time and 44% of people in part-time work

Where do they live?

  • QLD and the ACT have the highest volunteering rates at 38%
  • 36% of the population volunteers in Western Australia, Tasmania and the Northern Territory
  • The volunteering rate in rural and regional areas is higher (38%) than in the cities (32%)

How many hours do they volunteer?

  • 46% contributed less than 50 hours in the past 12 months
  • 8% contributed at least 400 hours in the past 12 months
  • A median of 56 hours per year or 1.1 hours per week

What do they do?


Four most common types of agencies in which people volunteer:

  • Sport / physical recreation (26%)
  • Community / welfare (19%)
  • Religious groups (17%)
  • Education / training (10%)

Four most common volunteering activities:

  • Fundraising (48%)
  • Preparing & serving food (31%)
  • Teaching / providing information (28%)
  • Administration (26%)

Why do they volunteer?

  • To help others or the community (57%)
  • Personal satisfaction (44%)
  • To do something worthwhile (36%)
  • Social contact (22%)
  • To be active / use skills (16%)

How much is volunteer time worth?

  • While more people are volunteering, many are doing so for less time
  • 713 million hours were volunteered in 2006
  • Volunteer time is currently valued at $24.09 per hour (Ironmonger, 2009)
  • Volunteering contributes approximately $15.7 billion to the Australian economy
  • In 2006, 587,800 people volunteered 77.2 million hours in Western Australia (Ironmonger, 2009)
  • This equals approximately $2.1 billion to the WA economy (Ironmonger, 2009)

 

 

The Economic Value of Volunteering in Western Australia - 2009

 

The Economic Value of Volunteering in Western Australia report by Dr Duncan Ironmonger of the University of Melbourne was commissioned by the Department for Communities to demonstrate the significant contribution Western Australia’s army of volunteers makes to the Western Australian economy and community. Copies of the full report are available on the Department for Communities’ website at www.communities.wa.gov.au.

A fact sheet showing key findings from this report can be downloaded from the Department for Communities website here.

 

 

2008 National Survey of Volunteering Issues


Conducted by Volunteering Australia this report can be downloaded here.

Download 2008 National Survey of Volunteering Issues