Modern Australian Communities - The Australian Seniors Series - Community and Volunteering Survey - March 2018 (AUS)

07/03/2018

To access this report:  Click Here

Authors: Australian Seniors Insurance Agency in conjunction with CoreData Pty Ltd

Published: March 2018

Background to the Research:

Part of the ‘Australian Seniors’ series, this report based on the results of a 2018 survey among a sample of Australian seniors aged 50+, examines seniors views with regard to their community and explores their donation and volunteering activities.  It seeks to understand the extent to which experiences in the community affect the participation of seniors in volunteering and donation and also uncovers the barriers and the motivations for volunteering in this age group now and in the future.

Objectives:

  1. To understand the relationship that seniors hold with their community
  2. To explore trends in the current and future state of community volunteering amongst seniors

Methodology:

2018 survey amongst 1000 Australian seniors aged 50+

Key Outcomes/Findings:

  • The report details seniors’ attitudes and opinions with regard to the ‘community’:

  • The overwhelming majority of seniors agree that local communities are the fabric of society and to a lesser extent that the quality of their life is reflected by the quality of their local community.
  • Close to two-thirds of seniors feel there is less community mindedness these days, and the large majority attribute this to the pace of modern life or because people lack time to interact.
  • Close to a two-thirds of seniors feel connected and needed in their community, while almost a quarter say they feel isolated and ignored.
  • Most seniors feel safe in their community, although some have experienced or witnessed crime of violence.
  • Seniors rank ‘looking out for their neighbours’ as their top way of giving back to their community, followed by ‘donating money’, and ‘being involved with charity work’.

  • The report explores seniors’ volunteering activities and describes their motivations for volunteering and giving:

  • A significant proportion of seniors are involved in community volunteering, with over half of all seniors involved in volunteering activities within their community, with 1 in 5 of those volunteering weekly or more often. 47% have never or rarely been involved in community volunteering.
  • The vast majority (73.9%) of seniors say they are more likely to volunteer to help their local community than those further afield.
  • Close to three in 10 (29.1%) seniors say the desire to contribute prompted them to start volunteering in their local community, while almost one in five (19.0%) cite looking for some way to give back.
  • Seniors say the most important thing they get out of volunteering in their local community is ‘being able to help’ (21.6%) and the ‘sense of satisfaction’ (19.4%).
  • Nearly all seniors say volunteering keeps the mind working (96.9%) and improves self-esteem or self-worth (96.7%). The overwhelming majority also says that volunteering helps avoid loneliness (93.0%) and improves mental health (92.5%).
  • Nearly all seniors agree that volunteering gives them great pleasure (94.4%), gives them a sense of purpose (93.0%) and contributes to their wellbeing (92.0%). They also agree that volunteering allows them to use or develop skills (87.0%), makes up a part of their self-identity (83.6%) and requires some sacrifices (80.4%).

  • The report uncovers some of the barriers to volunteering for this age group:

  • Healthy and mobility are the 2 key barriers to most seniors continuing to volunteer in the future.
  • Reimbursement is sometimes an issue. The vast majority (83.8%) say they are rarely or have never been reimbursed for their expenses and a quarter of seniors agree that volunteering costs them a considerable amount of money.

  • The report explores the extent to which the community experience of seniors impacts on their volunteering activity and attitudes towards volunteering in general:

  • Their good experience of the Australian community, leads them to believe that it is now their generation’s time to give back.
  • Most seniors feel connected and needed in their community, which encourages them to volunteer or give back in some way.
  • Witnessing or experiencing crime in the community affects seniors in different ways. For seniors who have experienced or witnessed crime or violence in their community, similar portions say their experience has encouraged them to volunteer or give back in some way (18.3%) or have discouraged them (20.6%). However, the majority say their experience with crime or violence has little to no impact on them volunteering or giving back to their community in some way.

  • The report details how senior themselves believe the future of volunteering could be safeguarded and explores their attitudes towards newer forms of volunteering and volunteer engagement:

  • For seniors who are involved in volunteering activities, close to three in five think the Government should provide strong support in reducing red tape involved in volunteering (57.9%) and giving financial support for local community organisations (56.8%).
  • They also think that the Government should provide strong support in improving infrastructure to facilitate volunteering work (53.2%), creating Government websites to help match people up to volunteering opportunities (48.1%) and having awareness campaigns to promote participation in volunteering (48.0%).
  • For seniors who use social media daily up to at least a few times a year, more than a third say social media has at least some influence in the amount of money donated (33.2%) and their involvement in volunteering (36.6%) with their local community in the recent years.
  • Close to two in five (37.8%) seniors say they are at least considering trying or using ‘remote volunteering’, while three in 10 (30.0%) do not. Nearly a third (32.1%) are not sure if they are willing to use such an online service.
  • Close to two in five (38.4%) seniors say they are at least considering trying or using the online share economy and various non-profit websites, while close to three in 10 (28.9%) do not. Almost a third (32.8%) are not sure if they are willing to use these online services.
  • Telephone hotlines are among the least popular ways of volunteering among seniors. One in five (20.9%) seniors say they are at least considering in helping out with charity or community service organization hotlines, while close to three-fifths (59.5%) do not. Close to one in five (19.7%) are not sure if they are willing to help out with manning telephone hotlines.