According to a new research report released on International Volunteer Day (5 December), the economic value of volunteering to Victoria grew by over 130 per cent in 15 years (between 1992 and 2006).

The Economic Value of Volunteering in Victoria report (PDF 1.1 MB) (20), developed by Melbourne University, placed the economic value of Victorian volunteering at $16.4 billion in 2006, up from $7.1 billion in 1992.

Organised volunteering through volunteering organisations, together with informal volunteering and volunteers’ travel time, combine to give us the total value of volunteering to the Victorian economy.

Regional Victorians contributed approximately $2 billion dollars to their communities in terms of organised volunteering through volunteering organisations, with Melburnians contributing around $2.8 billion – so per capita, volunteering is a strong contributor to regional Victoria.

Other key findings of the research include:  

• Volunteers provided a volume of work equivalent to 260,500 jobs in 1992 rising to 359,100 in 2006. This is equivalent to an additional 13.4 per cent people employed in Victoria in 1992 and 14.2 per cent in 2006.
• There was a 16 per cent rise in the average total hours per adult of volunteering in Victoria between 1992 and 2006.
• In dollar terms Victorian adults, on average, increased their volunteering time and associated costs by 95 per cent, from $2,133 to $4,152 each year.
• Women in Victoria contributed an estimated $2.64 billion dollars of time and other inputs to volunteer organisations in 2006.  In comparison, Victorian men's donation was 15 per cent less, about $2.25 billion.

Author: Duncan Ironmonger, Households Research Unit, Department of Economics, The University of Melbourne