VOLUNTEERING IN SPORTS AND CULTURE

The amount of time people voluntarily give to cultural and leisure organisations or groups can provide an indication of the value that Australian society places on these activities.

Sport and physical recreation organisations had the highest volunteer rate, with 11% of the population (1.7 million adults) volunteering for these types of organisations in 2006, and contributing a total of 187.2 million hours of their time. There were more female than male volunteers overall, however in sport and physical recreation organisations there were more male volunteers than females (ABS 2007d).

In 2006, just under 2% of adults volunteered for arts or heritage organisations and committed 30.6 million hours of their time, down from 33.6 million hours in 2000.

The median age of volunteers in 2006 for arts and heritage organisations was 49 years, while for sport and physical recreation organisations the median age was 43 years. The Northern Territory had the highest volunteer rate for sports and physical recreation (15%), while the Australian Capital Territory had the highest volunteer rate for arts and heritage (2.6%).

Volunteers in sporting organisations reported a variety of reasons for volunteering, with the three main reasons being to help others in the community, personal satisfaction, and personal or family involvement (ABS 2007d).