Facts & figures

Characteristics of Volunteering in Queensland

• In 2020 there were more than three million volunteers in Queensland over the age of eighteen. That’s more than three quarters of the adult population. Or more than the population of Western Australia                    

• The people of Queensland donated more than 900 million hours of their time in 2020. That’s like one person working for 102,000 years. 

• On average in 2020, volunteers donated 24.9 hours per month, or 5.7 hours per week. That’s more time than people spend socialising. 

Queenslanders volunteered in 2020 by: 

Reasons People Volunteer

The top three reasons people in Queenslander volunteer are: 

• To help others (63% of volunteers) 
• For a social connection (34% of volunteers) 
• To use their skills and experience (27% of volunteers) 

The full list can be found here: 

Reasons people can't volunteer more

The top three factors preventing Queenslanders from volunteering more are: 

• Not enough time (58% of volunteers) 
• Health reasons (29% of volunteers) 
• Costs (27% of volunteers) 

The full list can be found here: 

Economic value of volunteering

In 2020, the value of volunteering to Queensland was almost $84 billion. 

The volunteering sector is around three times larger than the Queensland Government sector, and about the same size and the private sector. 

Volunteering provides a return on investment of approximately $4.10 for every dollar invested. 

The cost to replace the labour provided by volunteers in Queensland in 2020 was more than $37 billion. 

Types of volunteering

Formal volunteering is done exclusively in formal settings with volunteer-involving organisations. Informal volunteering is done without the support or involvement of a volunteer-involving organisation.  

In Queensland in 2020: 

• 14% of volunteers donated their time exclusively in formal settings with volunteer-involving organisations
• 30% of volunteers donated their time exclusively informally
• 56% of volunteers donated their time bot formally and informally

Volunteer lifestyles

Volunteer-involving organisations engage with volunteer from all walks of like including:

Recruitment and retention

The 2020 State of Volunteering in Queensland Report found that: 

The top methods used by Queensland volunteer-involving organisations to recruit volunteers are 

The top methods used by Queensland volunteer-involving organisations to retain volunteers are

Only 30% of organisations use reimbursement of volunteer expenses as a method to retain volunteers.

Costs to volunteers

In 2020, the average volunteer in Queensland spends about $1600 per year in the course of volunteering. The top three expenses are: 

• Transport and travel ($344 on average) 
• Food and beverages ($272 on average) 
• Memberships and licences ($215 on average) 

Of the $1600 average, only $182 is reimbursed by volunteering organisations. This means that the average volunteer is out of pocket by nearly $4.76 per hour they give.