Volunteering Statistics
We have pulled together the latest statistics on volunteering to help inform your programs strategies, funding proposals, and campaigns.
WA State of Volunteering 2023
To launch November 2023
Volunteering WA, in partnership with the state and federal government is conducting the biggest and most in-depth survey project of volunteer management in Western Australia of the past decade. The project included a survey for those involved in the management of volunteers, and a survey to WA residents to gather their perspectives on volunteering. Both surveys were open during July 2023, and available in 11 languages.
Key Volunteering Statistics
February 2022
This Volunteering Australia fact sheet provides key statistics about volunteering in Australia to assist you with program development, funding applications and advocacy. It includes data on how many people volunteer, who volunteers, where people volunteer, how often people volunteer, why people volunteer, barriers to volunteering, the economic value of volunteering, the social value of volunteering, trends in volunteering, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on volunteering, sources of data on volunteering, and much more.
Download the PDF information sheet.
Youth Volunteering Key Statistics
August 2023
This Volunteering Australia document provides key statistics about youth volunteering in Australia and was released in August 2023 in honour of National Student Volunteer Week.
The data presented here is taken from several sources, specifically Volunteering in Australia research undertaken in 2022 to inform the development of the National Strategy for Volunteering, the General Social Survey (GSS) 2019 and 2020, the Household Impacts of COVID-19 surveys (the February, March, April, and June waves).
Key findings:
- 25.0 per cent of people aged 18-24 years volunteered formally (through an organisation or group) in 2022. This is an estimated 572,635 volunteers aged 18-24.
- The proportion of people aged 18-24 years who had volunteered formally in the previous 12 months fell from 36.5 per cent in late 2019 to 25.6 per cent in April 2021. This decreased slightly to 25.0 per cent in 2022.
Download the PDF information sheet.
Teens volunteering protects against poor mental health
May 2023
A 2023 Report by the Australian Institute of Family Studies (AIFS) has found that if a child is involved in volunteering before the age of 13, the odds of having poor mental health are reduced by around 28%.
As well, children who demonstrate ‘prosocial’ behaviours, such as caring for others or doing acts of kindness, were 11% less likely to experience mental ill-health.
The data was collected as part of Growing Up in Australia: A Longitudinal Study of Children (LSAC) which has been following the development of 10,000 children since 2003.
View the study on the Australian Institute of Family Studies (AIFS) website
Volunteering & Gender Key Statistics
March 2021
This Volunteering Australia fact sheet provides key statistics about volunteering in Australia by gender. The main source of data is the General Social Survey (GSS) which includes a series of questions about volunteering.
Download the PDF information sheet.