12 June 2019

This year marks 30 years since the first National Volunteer Week (NVW) was held in Australia.

The week is the largest celebration of volunteers in Australia, and provides an opportunity to highlight the role of volunteers in our community and say thank you to more than 6 million Australians who volunteer each year.

From 20-26 May thousands of events were held across the country to say thank you to our volunteers. The week-long celebration included breakfasts, morning and afternoon teas, luncheons, open days, award ceremonies, picnics, forums and training and development sessions.

CEO Kate Palmer said “Volunteers donate 158 million hours to sport a year, that’s the equivalent of almost 90,000 full time jobs. Research has conservatively valued that contribution at more than $3 billion, but to me and the Australian sporting industry our volunteers are priceless – they are the backbone of the Australian sport industry”.

You can watch Palmer celebrate and acknowledge Australian sporting volunteers.