QUESTION 51: Volunteering Activity Across Australia WHITE PAPER becollective.com Volunteering Activity Across Australia 1 Question 51: Volunteering Activity Across Australia Written and prepared by Be Collective International Pty Ltd May 2018 28 Thistlethwaite St, South Melbourne VIC 3205
[email protected] becollective.com Volunteering Activity Across Australia 2 Volunteering In Australia EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Every five years on Census night, people across Australia are asked to sit down and take time out of their evening to complete the questionnaire that tells us about our make up as Australians. The data provides insight, informs our sense of identity and is used to inform policy, funding, community, government and corporate decision-making, and understanding of our community. On 9 August of 2016, the 17th Australian Census took place. The 2016 Census, with Question 51, was only the second census to explore volunteering, the previous being 2011, and hence has started to provide a longitudinal perspective on volunteering in Australia. Upon the release of the ABS data on volunteering in late December 2017, Be Collective analysed the results of Australians’ response to Question 51 on their volunteering activity in the previous 12 months. The characteristics of Australian volunteers were identified by considering the influence of items such as geography, age, gender, education, country of birth and employment. Be Collective also compared these factors, where possible, to the 2011 Census data to understand trends. In summary, 3.6 million Australians volunteer. Favourably, this is an increase of 1.3% from the 2011 Census. On the whole, people who live outside of Australia’s major cities were more involved in volunteering compared to their city counterparts.