Queensland (QLD)
Volunteering Queensland, opens in a new tab is a non-government organisation that actively advocates for a strong and sustainable volunteering sector in Queensland. It produces a number of resources that sports organisations may find useful.
State of Volunteering in Queensland 2021 Report, opens in a new tab, Volunteering Queensland, (2021). Over 3.0 million (or 75.7% of) Queenslanders over 18 years of age volunteered in 2020. This includes people who volunteered formally with organisations, as well as those who do not have an affiliation with an organisation but contributed informally to their communities. Some key findings included:
- Volunteers contributed over 900 million hours in 2020 and individuals volunteered for an average of 5.7 hours every week. Across the twelve months of 2020, the value of volunteering to Queensland was almost $84 billion. This is the sum of commercial benefits worth $41.8 billion and civic benefits valued at $42.2 billion. These figures include the $37.1 billion it would cost to replace the labour that volunteers contribute to Queensland as well as $6.3 billion in contributions to Queensland’s Gross State Product. This represents a return of approximately $4.10 on every dollar invested.
- Queensland volunteers on average over $1,600 a year to volunteer. On average, volunteer-involving organisations are reimbursing only 11.4%, or $182, to volunteers. This means on top of their valuable time and skills, volunteers themselves are donating nearly $4.76 per hour to volunteer. It is noted that this ‘hidden’ cost has the potential to exclude many who cannot afford the act of volunteering.
- The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly disrupted volunteer patterns in Queensland. For instance, volunteers noted an increase of 15.2% in online/at home volunteering from 2019 to 2020.
Non profit organisations and volunteers, opens in a new tab, Queensland Government, WorkSafe, (accessed 31 May 2023).
Supporting Volunteers, opens in a new tab, Queensland Government, (accessed 12 September 2023). Provides resources for clubs, linking services. and stories from volunteers.
