Volunteering in Australia

A new report released today reveals that 76 per cent of community organisations in Australia need more volunteers, which is starting to impact many organisations’ ability to provide their essential services.

Jointly commissioned by Volunteering Australia and National Australia Bank (NAB), the survey of community organisations also shows that 81 per cent of those surveyed believe the demand for their services is greater now than at any time in the past.

“It is estimated that currently 5.4 million people in Australia volunteer each year, which contributes to 4.3 per cent of Australia’s GDP,” Volunteering Australia CEO, Cary Pedicini said.

“This week we celebrate National Volunteer Week to recognise the contribution of volunteers across Australia and the difference they make to our community.

“However, while Australia has quite a high number of volunteers, this report shows that the services provided by Australia’s community organisations are in greater demand than ever before and this requires more volunteers.

“Sixty-six per cent of community organisations said a shortage of volunteers had a big or very big impact on their ability to deliver services,” Mr Pedicini said.

NAB Deputy CEO, Michael Ullmer, said there was a need to remove the barriers that prevented people from volunteering.

“Community organisations believe a lack of time is one of the main barriers that is now preventing people from volunteering,” Mr Ullmer said.

“While 35 per cent of community organisations said a lack of resources made it difficult to manage volunteers, NAB understands the importance of corporates taking the time to understand the needs of the community when it comes to volunteering.

“Since 1998, NAB has been supporting its people to give something back to the community by providing all staff with two days per year to volunteer with the community organisation of their choice.

“Over the last 12 years, NAB has built relationships with over 350 local community organisations. Our volunteering program increases value through skills matching, is employee driven and responds directly to requests from the community for assistance with volunteers.