Approximately 20.7% of Australians aged over 15 years indicate they undertake unpaid work for an organisation or group in Australia. Australians living in regional areas are far more likely to have volunteered than those located in metropolitan regions. This trend was evident in almost all the states in 2016, with the exception of the Northern Territory where volunteer rates were largely consistent between metropolitan and regional areas.

Volunteer Rates – Metropolitan and Regional Areas, 2016

Overall, local government areas which ranked in the top 20 for volunteering in Australia tended to record higher average ages, below average household incomes and smaller population sizes than the national average. Generally, volunteer rates tend to decrease as population sizes increase, indicating increased community connections, coordination and engagement in smaller areas. This is also likely reflective of the age structures of these communities, with over half the Australian local governments with a population size of up to 5,000 recording an average age of 40.0 years and above (compared to the national average age of 38.3 years).

Volunteer Rates and Population Size, 2016