In these years of relative prosperity, it seems that many feel they have a lot to give, and believe their contribution as volunteers can make a difference.

And make a difference they do. Volunteers do a lot of work that would otherwise go undone, and allow organisations to allocate finances elsewhere. According to 2006-7 figures, volunteers did almost $15 billion worth of work, all for free. Who are these alturistic volunteers? A look at the statistics can give us a picture of who finds the time to contribute to society in a variety of ways.

The numbers show that women tend to volunteer slightly more than, men, with 38% of women over 18 performing some volunteer duties in 2010, next to 34% of men. When divided by age, though, that same year, men in the 55-64 year and 65-74 year age groups contributed more than their female counterparts. The biggest contributing group of all, however, was women in the 45-54 year age group, with 48% of women involved in volunteer activities.

When labour force status is considered, interestingly it is those with other employment who also manage to fulfil volunteer commitments. Both full-time and part-time employed people have higher rates of voluntary participation than people without employment. Women with part-time employment participate at the highest rate of all, with 49% of them performing both paid and volunteer duties.

Looking at volunteer duties by type, the most frequently performed work in 2010 by both men and women, was to do with fundraising and sales. Some types of work, such as environmental work and administrative work, were performed at close to equal rates by both males and females. Other types of work showed traditional gender divides more starkly, with men being more involved in gardening and maintenance, and women reporting more involvement in preparing and serving food.

All in all, Australia’s volunteer workforce is an essential component in many nonprofit organisations, and volunteers reap rewards for their contribution more valuable to them than monetary gain.

(figures from ABS, Gender Indicators, Australia, Jan 2013)