What is generosity?

Generosity in Australian life is the willingness to give of time, money, possessions, or expertise to others without expectation of return. It is expressed through donations to charity, volunteer work, hospitality to friends and neighbours, and the country's humanitarian response to international crises.

Charitable giving in Australia totals about 13.1 billion dollars a year, equivalent to about 0.85 per cent of GDP. About 80 per cent of Australians make some form of donation in any given year. Major recipients include the Salvation Army, the Smith Family, World Vision, Cancer Council, the Australian Red Cross, Médecins Sans Frontières, and dozens of smaller organisations. Australia's tax system supports giving through tax deductibility for donations to registered Deductible Gift Recipients (DGRs), with about 30,000 DGRs registered by the Australian Taxation Office.

Disaster appeals attract particularly generous responses. The 2019 to 2020 Black Summer fires appeal raised more than 280 million dollars from Australian and international donors. The 2022 east-coast floods appeal raised more than 50 million dollars. The Sydney to Hobart, the City2Surf, the World's Greatest Shave, the Black Dog Ride, the Movember campaign, and dozens of other annual fundraising events draw donations and participation from across the country.

Volunteer generosity is equally extensive. About 5.8 million Australians volunteer through formal organisations each year, and many more contribute through informal community support. Major volunteer categories include sport (about 1.6 million volunteers), community welfare (1.5 million), religious organisations (800,000), arts and heritage (700,000), and emergency services (280,000). Hospitality is also a form of everyday generosity: the Australian tradition of bringing a plate to shared meals, hosting friends for a barbecue, stopping to help a stranger with a flat tyre, and welcoming new neighbours all express the value. Indigenous cultures across Australia have particular traditions of sharing resources within family and clan groups that continue to influence contemporary expressions of generosity.