At the 2021 Census, 2,933,646 Australians said they had done unpaid voluntary work for an organisation or group in the previous twelve months: 14.1% of people aged 15 and over, or 15.1% of those who answered the question. The rate differs widely from place to place. In localities with between 201 and 999 adults, 20.0% of those who answered were volunteers; in localities with 20,000 or more, 11.9%. Among larger suburbs the rate runs from 4.7% to 30.4%.
The Census asked about unpaid voluntary work through an organisation or group in the twelve months to 10 August 2021.
What the Census asked
The Census asks each person aged 15 and over one question on volunteering: in the last twelve months, did the person spend any time doing unpaid voluntary work for an organisation or group? It counts formal volunteering, through a club, charity, school, church or service. Help given directly to relatives, friends and neighbours is not counted here. The 2021 Census was held on 10 August 2021, so the answers cover August 2020 to August 2021. The ABS reports that the number of volunteers was 19 per cent lower than at the 2016 Census.
About one person in sixteen (6.4%) did not answer the question, and that share differs from place to place. To compare places fairly, the rates below are of people who answered: on that basis the national rate is 15.1%, against 14.1% of everyone aged 15 and over. Women (16.3%) volunteered more than men (13.8%).
By age: lowest at 25 to 34, highest at 65 to 74
Share of people who volunteered, by age, Australia, 2021
APN calculation based on Australian Bureau of Statistics data: Census of Population and Housing: General Community Profile, 2021, Table G23 (voluntary work for an organisation or group by age by sex). Volunteers as a share of people aged 15 and over who answered the question. Australia, with the number of volunteers in each age group.
Volunteering is lowest among people aged 25 to 34 (11.0%), apart from those aged 85 and over. It rises to 45 to 54 (17.0%), eases at 55 to 64 (15.8%) and is highest at 65 to 74 (19.0%). By number, the largest group of volunteers is aged 45 to 54 (521,212).
By state: highest in the Australian Capital Territory and Tasmania
Share of people who volunteered, by state and territory, 2021
APN calculation based on Australian Bureau of Statistics data: Census of Population and Housing: General Community Profile, 2021, Table G23 (voluntary work for an organisation or group by age by sex). Volunteers as a share of people aged 15 and over who answered the question.
The Australian Capital Territory (19.3%) and Tasmania (19.1%) had the highest rates, followed by South Australia and Western Australia. New South Wales (13.9%) and Victoria (14.2%) had the lowest. Parts of both states were in lockdown for some of the twelve months the question covers; the Census does not show how much of the difference that accounts for.
By size of place: the smaller the locality, the higher the share who volunteer
Share of people who volunteered, by the size of the locality they live in, 2021
APN calculation based on Australian Bureau of Statistics data: Census of Population and Housing: General Community Profile, 2021, Table G23 (voluntary work for an organisation or group by age by sex). Volunteers as a share of people aged 15 and over who answered the question. Localities are ABS Suburbs and Localities, grouped by their number of people aged 15 and over.
The clearest pattern is size. Grouping the ABS’s suburbs and localities by the number of adults living in them, the volunteering rate falls at every step: 20.0% in localities with 201 to 999 adults, 16.3% with 1,000 to 4,999, 14.0% with 5,000 to 19,999, and 11.9% in the 85 localities with 20,000 or more. Taken together, the localities with 200 or fewer adults, which are not reported individually, had a rate of 24.6%. The figures show the pattern; they do not show why it holds.
How localities are spread
Number of localities by volunteering rate, 2021
APN calculation based on Australian Bureau of Statistics data: Census of Population and Housing: General Community Profile, 2021, Table G23 (voluntary work for an organisation or group by age by sex). The 6,506 localities with more than 200 people aged 15 and over, by their volunteering rate.
Across the 6,506 localities with more than 200 adults, the middle locality had a volunteering rate of 17.2%, above the national rate because small localities, with higher rates, are numerous but hold few people. In 598 localities fewer than one adult in ten volunteered; those localities hold 17.2% of the adults living in the 6,506. In 2,166 localities at least one in five did, and they hold 14.8%.
The highest and lowest among larger suburbs
Rates in small places move a good deal on a handful of answers, so the lists below are limited to the 1,272 localities with at least 5,000 people aged 15 and over.
| Locality | State | People aged 15 and over | Volunteers | Share of those who answered |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| O’Connor | ACT | 5,002 | 1,474 | 30.4% |
| Floreat | WA | 6,739 | 1,945 | 29.6% |
| Nedlands | WA | 8,638 | 2,443 | 29.4% |
| City Beach | WA | 5,601 | 1,567 | 29.0% |
| South Hobart | Tas. | 5,002 | 1,359 | 28.9% |
| Cottesloe | WA | 6,534 | 1,785 | 28.8% |
| Castlemaine | Vic. | 6,559 | 1,544 | 28.5% |
| Sandy Bay | Tas. | 10,798 | 2,932 | 28.4% |
| Campbell | ACT | 5,863 | 1,416 | 26.9% |
| West Hobart | Tas. | 5,626 | 1,441 | 26.5% |
The ten highest are in Western Australia (four, all in Perth’s western suburbs), Tasmania (three, in Hobart), the Australian Capital Territory (two) and Victoria (one, Castlemaine).
| Locality | State | People aged 15 and over | Volunteers | Share of those who answered |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cabramatta West | NSW | 6,381 | 277 | 4.7% |
| Cabramatta | NSW | 17,946 | 798 | 4.9% |
| Fairfield Heights | NSW | 6,631 | 318 | 5.1% |
| Canley Heights | NSW | 10,122 | 483 | 5.2% |
| Fairfield West | NSW | 10,356 | 507 | 5.3% |
| Fairfield | NSW | 15,460 | 744 | 5.3% |
| Bonnyrigg Heights | NSW | 6,088 | 314 | 5.4% |
| Kings Park | Vic. | 6,681 | 335 | 5.4% |
| Canley Vale | NSW | 8,578 | 437 | 5.5% |
| Green Valley | NSW | 10,403 | 568 | 5.8% |
APN calculation based on Australian Bureau of Statistics data: Census of Population and Housing: General Community Profile, 2021, Table G23 (voluntary work for an organisation or group by age by sex). Volunteers as a share of people aged 15 and over who answered the question. Localities with at least 5,000 people aged 15 and over. Counts are as published by the ABS, which makes small random adjustments to protect confidentiality.
Nine of the ten lowest are in south-western Sydney, in and around Fairfield and Cabramatta, and one is in Melbourne’s north-west. The rate in the highest of the larger suburbs is more than six times that in the lowest. These figures count only volunteering through an organisation or group. They say nothing about help given informally within families and communities, which the Census question does not cover.
Where this sits in the index
Bonding Capital (Civic Engagement) (24123) ranks every locality on the volunteering rate reported here. A locality’s reading is its percentile rank on that rate among localities with more than 200 residents. Two further measures from the 2021 Census, the share of people providing unpaid assistance to a person with a disability and the share providing unpaid child care, are published beside the reading and do not enter it.
What this does not show
The figures are five years old and cover a year in which many organised activities were restricted, so they may understate usual levels, unevenly between states. They show whether a person volunteered at all, not how often or for how long. They do not count informal help. A locality’s rate reflects who lives there, including its age profile, and not only the place itself. The next Census was held in August 2026, and its results will show how much of the 2021 pattern has lasted.
- Australian Bureau of Statistics (Reference period: 2021) Census of Population and Housing: General Community Profile, table G23, by Suburbs and Localities, state and Australia [https://www.abs.gov.au/census/find-census-data/datapacks], ABS Website, accessed 10 October 2026.
- Australian Bureau of Statistics (Reference period: 2021) Unpaid work and care: Census [https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/people-and-communities/unpaid-work-and-care-census/2021], ABS Website, accessed 10 October 2026.
ABS material is used under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence. Calculations, standardisations and index readings are APN’s and are not attributable to the ABS.
Disclaimer
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Findings are presented on the basis of data and evidence alone.
