39.9% of volunteers volunteer exclusively in
formal settings with volunteer-involving organisations (not-for-profit, government and private organisations).

44.5% of volunteers volunteered both formally and informally. 15.6% of volunteers donated their time exclusively in informal contexts.

Four out of five people volunteer from home or in their local (geographic) community. The initial COVID-19 impact in April-May 2020 saw a 50.2% decline in the volunteering participation rate, from 42.1% (2.3 million) to 21.0% (1.1 million). There was a net decline in volunteering hours of almost two thirds (64.1%) during this period.

Characteristics of volunteering in Victoria in 2019

2.3 million Victorians volunteered

507.7 million hours donated

223.9 hours donated annually/person

Volunteer-involving Organisations (VIOs)

About three quarters of all organisations (78.9%) reported that they had volunteers over 65 years old.

36.2% of organisations indicated they used reimbursement of volunteers’ expenses to motivate or retain volunteers, and 22% stated they had seen a drop in the levels of volunteers claiming expenses across the last three years.
35.4% of organisations have seen an increase in the need for volunteer training across the last three years.
89.3% of organisations predicted that they would have the same or more volunteers in three years’ time.
Almost a quarter, 24.7%, engage volunteers in delivering services funded by the Victorian Government.
62.5% of organisations noted people prefer occasional/flexible hours for volunteering and  37.5% stated people preferred to volunteer regular/fixed hours.