Increasing the rate of volunteering in Queensland

The Toward Q2: Tomorrow's Queensland volunteering target under the Fair Queensland ambition aims to increase the proportion of Queenslanders involved in their communities as volunteers by 50% by 2020.

The Department of Communities is the lead agency for this target and will work across government and the community to develop coordinated strategies to increase volunteering and build on the work already being implemented under the Target Delivery Plan Volunteering 2011-2012.

The plan will focus on the following strategies, some of which will be built on in subsequent years:

• Enabling fast and effective volunteer response to disaster
• Improving volunteer management and safety
• Improving volunteer attraction and engagement
• Queensland Government leading by example.

Volunteers in Queensland: a snapshot

Volunteers enrich Queensland communities and help individuals and community organisations daily and in times of need. Volunteers build strong, healthy and inclusive communities. Volunteers, as individuals, groups or companies really can make a difference. For details about Volunteering in Queensland see the fact sheet Volunteers in Queensland: a snapshot (PDF, 144 KB) and the report The Economic Value of Volunteering in Queensland (PDF, 619 KB), based on Australian Bureau of Statistics data.

Who volunteers and how often?

• Nearly four out of 10 Queenslanders volunteer their time.
• The rate of volunteering in Queensland has been rising steadily over time from 26 per cent in 1995 to 38 per cent in 2006.
• Queenslanders of all ages are active in volunteering but the highest rates of volunteering are displayed among the 35 – 44 year age group (47 per cent) with lower rates among people aged 18 – 24 years (31 per cent) and those aged over 65 years (27 per cent).
• The volunteering rate is high in both metropolitan and regional Queensland.
• Although the number of volunteers in Queensland is increasing, the amount of hours spent volunteering is actually decreasing.
• The median annual hours of voluntary work in Queensland was 52 hours or one hour per week of voluntary work. The median hours contributed steadily increase with age.

The value of volunteering

Volunteers contribute socially and economically to their communities. The Economic Value of Volunteering in Queensland (PDF, 619 KB), reports the value of volunteering to the Queensland economy was estimated at $13.4 billion in 2006. This figure combines the value of organised volunteering (through an organisation or group), unorganised volunteering (not mediated through an organisation) and the cost of volunteer travel. Organised voluntary work in Queensland was worth about $4.5 billion and unorganised voluntary work was worth about $7 billion to the Queensland economy.

Why volunteer?

The main reasons people volunteer are:

• to help others or the community
• personal satisfaction and
• to do something worthwhile.

Other benefits are:

• making new friends
• developing new skills
• improving health
• getting job-ready and
• having fun.

Types of volunteering

People volunteer in all types of organisations, and in all sorts of ways. Some people volunteer full time, or on a regular basis. Some people volunteer to help out at one-off events or for particular occasions. Volunteering can be done from the comfort of your home computer. Across Australia, volunteering in sport and recreation organisations, education and training groups, community and welfare organisations and religious groups account for 74 per cent of all volunteering involvement.