Research: Giving Australia 2016 - Individuals volunteering

New research, Giving Australia 2016, has recently been released by the Queensland University of Technology Australian Centre for Philanthropy and Non-profit Studies in partnership with the Swinburne University of Technology’s Centre for Social Impact and Centre for Corporate Public Affairs, as commissioned by The Department of Social Services.

Giving Australia 2016 has collected comprehensive, up-to-date information from individuals, charitable organisations, philanthropists and businesses in Australia and provides critical information about giving and volunteering behaviours, attitudes and trends. This data collection builds on information gathered through Giving Australia 2005.

An estimated 43.7% of adult Australians volunteered a total of 932 million hours in the 12 months prior to when surveyed in 2016. On average, volunteers gave 134 hours of their time over 12 months in 2015-16* or about 2.5 hours a week.

Some key points of interest are:

• volunteering time and hours have both increased over the past decade
• women are more likely to volunteer than men 
• people aged between 35 and 44 are more likely to volunteer than other age groups, with 45–54 year olds the second most likely to volunteer, and  
• volunteers 65 years and over volunteered the most hours on average
• only half of not-for-profit organisations have a dedicated volunteer manager (found to be the most useful resource for volunteer recruitment). 

The cause area is often different for each age group:

• younger volunteers (18–24 year olds) most commonly volunteer for religious causes, sports, health and social services
• those aged 35–44 most commonly reported volunteering for primary and secondary education
• 45–54 year olds most commonly volunteered in sports, and
• those aged 65 years and over are most likely to volunteer for religious causes, followed by health and social services.

The top reasons for volunteering are:

• personal satisfaction
• connection to community
• practical benefit (e.g. to gain skills)
• to keep busy when no longer working
• mental health benefits
• family tradition

Some key challenges are:

• the systemic change in nonprofit sector, including the use of information technologies, which is both a barrier and an opportunity, and
• a lack of knowledge about engaging culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) groups in formal volunteering with nonprofit groups (please refer to our resources on supporting CALD and Indigenous volunteers)

Get more resources on engaging, recruiting and supporting volunteers at your station and get the full Individual Volunteering factsheet.