One in Five Aussies Volunteer - Census
2 July 2007 at 2:52 pm
Almost one in five Australians aged over 15 does voluntary work and women are leading the charge according to the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics Census data 2006.
Results from the 2006 census show 18% of over-15s had done voluntary work in the in the 2006 survey.
Most were females – 57% compared to males – 43%.
It is the first time volunteerism has been measured in an Australian census.
Residents in Canberra were the most giving of their time, with more than one fifth of the population aged over 15 (22.3%) doing volunteer work.
Sydney (14%) and Perth (15.1%) had the lowest rates of volunteerism among the capital cities.
Overall, Western Australia was the worst-performing state, with 16.8% of the population identified as volunteers.
Rates of volunteerism were divided along cultural lines. Residents born in the US and Canada were more likely to do unpaid work than any other nationality, with almost 30% working as volunteers.
Those from Micronesia and Melanesia came in second, with 21.8 per cent volunteering, ahead of Australian-born volunteers at 20.6 per cent.
Those least likely to volunteer came from southeastern Europe, with just 6.4 per cent donating their time to unpaid work.
