What is volunteering in Australia?

Volunteering in Australia is the unpaid contribution of time, skill, and effort to help others, organisations, and the wider community. About 5.8 million Australians volunteer through formal organisations each year, contributing an estimated billions of dollars in economic value and much more in social benefit. The country has one of the highest formal volunteering rates in the OECD.

Formal volunteering takes many shapes. Country Fire Authority and Rural Fire Service volunteers fight bushfires across rural Australia, with about 200,000 active members nationwide. State Emergency Service volunteers respond to storm, flood, and accident emergencies, with about 32,000 members. Surf Life Saving clubs patrol Australian beaches with about 50,000 active patrolling members. Meals on Wheels delivers about 13 million meals a year to older Australians. The Salvation Army, the Smith Family, Anglicare, and other charities rely on hundreds of thousands of volunteers.

Sporting and community organisations are another major channel. Australian sporting clubs, from grassroots junior football to elite-pathway swimming clubs, depend on volunteer coaches, managers, team officials, canteen workers, and committee members. Schools rely on volunteer parents for canteens, uniform shops, working bees, and class trips. Religious congregations, neighbourhood houses, community gardens, Landcare groups, and Friends of national parks groups all run primarily on volunteer effort.

Government policy supports volunteering in several ways. Volunteering Australia is the national peak body, with state-based equivalents. The federal Volunteer Grants programme provides small grants for volunteer-involving organisations. State and territory governments coordinate emergency-service volunteers. Workplaces increasingly offer volunteer leave (often one to five days a year) and corporate volunteering programmes. The right to Working With Children Checks for volunteers working with children applies in every state. New citizens are encouraged to volunteer as a path into Australian community life, with many finding it the quickest route to building local connections and feeling at home.