Notes on the data: Community strengths

People aged 15 years and over who participated in voluntary work for an organisation or group, 2021

Policy context: Volunteering can improve the health and wellbeing of individual volunteers by enhancing support networks, self-esteem and quality of life. The most recent estimate of the value of voluntary work in Australia was estimated at $46 billion in 2006 [1].

In the year before the 2021 Census, 14.1% of the population reported undertaking voluntary work through an organisation or a group [2]. This was below the level in both 2016 (19.0%) and 2011 (17.8%) [3].

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a substantial impact on volunteering in Australia, as reflected in these figures from recent censuses. A study for Volunteering Australia found that ‘The decline in volunteering during COVID-19 was substantial with nearly two thirds of volunteers (66%) estimated to have stopped volunteering between February and April 2020. They also reported that:

This reduction in volunteering across Australia is equivalent to 12.2 million hours per week.
Volunteers over the age of 65 were more likely to have stopped volunteering than other age groups.
Female volunteers were also more likely to have stopped volunteering compared to male volunteers.
This reduction occurred across the country in every state and territory [4].

These data are useful in the planning of local facilities and services, and in understanding the way individuals and families balance paid work with other important aspects of their lives, such as community commitments.

References

Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). SPOTLIGHT ON THE NATIONAL ACCOUNTS: UNPAID WORK AND THE AUSTRALIAN ECONOMY. Available from: https://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/mf/5202.0; last accessed 9 September 2022
Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) 2021 Census of Population and Housing General community profile Australia Canberra ABS 2022. Available from: https://www.abs.gov.au/census/guide-census-data/about-census-tools/community-profiles; accessed 25 August 2022.
ABS. 2016 Census QuickStats. Canberra: ABS; 2017 Jan, accessed 11 August 2017. Available from: http://www.censusdata.abs.gov.au/census_services/getproduct/census/2016/quickstat/036
Volunteering Australia. Volunteering and the ongoing impact of COVID-19 (May 2021), Available from: https://www.volunteeringaustralia.org/wp-content/uploads/VA-Volunteering-and-the-Ongoing-Impact-of-COVID19-14-May-2021.pdf; last accessed 9 September 2022

Notes: The variable 'Voluntary work for an organisation or group' records people who spent time doing unpaid voluntary work through an organisation or group in the twelve months prior to Census night.

The numerator excludes the 6.4% of the population aged 15 years and over whose participation in voluntary work was not stated: however, these records are included in the denominator.

Geography: Data available by Population Health Area, Local Government Area, Primary Health Network, Quintile of socioeconomic disadvantage of area and Quintiles within PHNs, and Remoteness Area

Numerator: People aged 15 years and over who participated in voluntary work for an organisation or group

Denominator: Population aged 15 years and over

Detail of analysis: Percent

Source: Compiled by PHIDU based on the ABS Census of Population and Housing, August 2021