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Fair Queensland - Volunteering

2020 Target: Increase the proportion of Queenslanders involved in their communities as volunteers by 50%

Measure: Rates of volunteering (ABS General Social Survey).

Lead agency: Department of Communities.

Queensland volunteering today

Volunteering gives all Queenslanders the opportunity to give something back to their communities. Nearly four out of 10 Queenslanders gave up their time to help others in 2006.

The proportion of people willing to lend a hand has been rising steadily over time – from 26% in 1994 to 31% in 2004 and almost 40% in 2006.

Volunteering levels are high in both regional and metropolitan areas of the state.

Volunteering provides opportunities for all Queenslanders to be active and involved in their communities.

There are many ways to volunteer – from helping out at the local school fete or joining a local Neighbourhood Watch group, to becoming a Rural Fire Service volunteer.

Whatever activity volunteering involves, it all helps support Queensland communities.

Achievements since September 2007

Introduced a payroll tax exemption to employers whose workers volunteer in the State Emergency Service or Rural Fire Service.
Granted an extra $1.6 million to assist Surf Life Saving Queensland to provide additional beach patrols and equipment through grants to clubs.

Challenges

Low rates of volunteering among young and older Queenslanders: volunteering levels are uneven across different age groups. The highest rates were in the 35-44 year age group (47%), with lower rates among people aged 18-24 years (31%) and people aged over 65 years (27%).

Ageing population: as our population gets older, there will be greater demand for volunteers, particularly in the aged care and support sector. However, our ageing population also offers opportunities for older Queenslanders to continue being active in their local communities through volunteering.

Busy lives: Queenslanders are working longer hours and leading busier lives. Changing patterns of paid work and the use of technology are also likely to affect how people volunteer in the future. It'll be important to find ways that allow people to fit in volunteering around their work and personal commitments.

Achieving the target

We need to build on our current record of high volunteer rates, to attract, recruit and retain more people as volunteers, particularly the young and older people.

The Queensland Government will play its role by:

continuing to grow our volunteer workforce in organisations such as the State Emergency Service and the Rural Fire Service
encouraging volunteers from all backgrounds to increase diversity in the volunteer workforce
promoting the economic, social and environmental benefits of volunteering
working with the community sector to help supply the volunteers that it relies on.

We need individuals in the community to play a role to meet this target, too. This could be by joining a local creek protection group or coaching children's sporting teams.

Tomorrow's Queensland