Volunteering Facts
Volunteering in Tasmania: the facts
Unless otherwise attributed, the figures below come from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Voluntary Work, Australia report, published in 2006. View full report.Who volunteers?
- The proportion of Tasmanian adults engaged in voluntary work increased between 2000 (34.0%) and 2006 (36.3%). This equates to 131,000 Tasmanians (aged 18 or over) who volunteered during the twelve month period prior to the 2006 survey, collectively contributing approximately 18 million hours of labour each year. Tasmania’s volunteering rate is higher than the national average (34.1), although this is likely to be due to Tasmania’s dispersed population, as rates are higher outside capital cities.
- Female volunteers overtook male volunteers as the dominant contributor to Tasmania’s volunteer workforce. In 1995, 24% of Tasmanian adult females were engaged in voluntary work. Just eleven years later, this proportion had surged to 39.2%.
- Despite these increases in the numbers of volunteers, the quantum of voluntary hours has dropped alarmingly. A million fewer hours of voluntary work were contributed in Tasmania in 2006 compared to 2000. The median number of hours contributed annually by each Tasmanian volunteer dropped from 78 in 2000 to 55 in 2006. Note that the only other states with such dramatic falls mirror Tasmania’s demographic transition (i.e., South Australia and, to a lesser extent, Victoria).
- Participation in volunteering has changed across the age spectrum too. The younger cohorts – from 18 through to 54 – have either increased or remained stable in their median annual contributions. Older Australians – 55 and over – have decreased in their level of participation, especially in the ‘younger aged’ group of 55-64.
The most common types of organisation for which Tasmanians volunteer are:
- Sport/recreation groups;
- Community services / welfare groups;
- Education and training groups;
- Religious organisations.
- Fundraising / sales;
- Preparing / serving food;
- Teaching / instructing / providing information;
- Transporting people /goods;
- Governance / management committee work.
Accoridng to Volunteering Australia and ABS surveys:
- They were asked by someone (35%);
- The knew someone involved in the organisation (29%);
- They were rarely recruited by the media, with only 5% doing so in response to a media report or advertisement;
- Over half of volunteers (52%) reported that at least one of their parents had done voluntary work, while only 23% of volunteers didn’t have parental volunteering involvement;
- The most frequent reason offered for volunteering was “Helping others or the community” (57%) or “to do something worthwhile” (36%).
- There are over 5000 not-for-profit organisations operating in Tasmania;
- People who volunteer are also more likely to have made a donation than those who don’t volunteer (85% compared to 72%).
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