Social connections

• Proportion of people who agreed with the statement ‘I often feel very lonely'
• Proportion of people who undertake voluntary work

One reason that people value free time, is because it can be used to pursue social connection, which is critical to overall wellbeing. We can measure whether Australians have access to the relationships and social connection that they need by tracking the presence of loneliness in the community.

One way Australians may seek to maintain social connections is volunteering.

In 2022, for people aged 15 years and over:

• one in five (20%) reported feeling lonely, similar to the level reported in 2021 (19%)
• the proportion of people who reported feeling lonely was consistent with levels reported in the early 2000s, although it decreased slightly (to 17%) around 2010. 

In 2020, for people aged 15 years and over:

• one in four people (25%) volunteered formally (through an organisation), while in 2019 the proportion was closer to one in three (30%)
• about one in three people (32%) volunteered informally (not through an organisation), similar to that of 2019 (33%). 

Volunteering data comes from the General Social Survey (GSS) which was conducted in 2020 while COVID-19 related restrictions were in force. Care should be used when making comparisons with previous years.

From 2026 onwards, this indicator will be updated annually with data from the expanded GSS.

In 2022:

• one in four people (25%) aged 15-24 years reported feeling lonely, while fewer than one in five people aged 35 years or over reported feeling lonely (19% for people aged 35-44 years, 18% for or people aged 45-54 years, 55-64 years and 65 years and over)
• the proportion of people aged 15-24 years who reported feeling lonely increased from 19% in 2002 to 25% in 2022, while for people aged 65 years and over the proportion decreased from 23% to 18%
• for people aged 15-24 years, just over a quarter of males report feeling lonely (26%), which was similar for females (23%). 

In 2020, for peopled aged 15 years and over: 

• formal volunteering rates were similar for males (23%) and females (26%)
• informal volunteering rates for males and females were both 32%
• 31% of people aged 40-54 participated in unpaid voluntary work through an organisation, compared with 19% of those aged 15-24.

Further information on how loneliness and volunteering differs across groups is available via the following links below and in the 'Data Downloads' section below.

Proportion of people who agreed with the statement ‘I often feel very lonely’: Refer to Data Downloads below.

• Additional information using other measures of loneliness, including data visualisation by age and sex, is available at AIHW: Social isolation and loneliness

Proportion of people who undertake voluntary work: ABS General Social Survey.

Disaggregation available includes: 

•  Age group, including age group by gender
•  Labour force status
•  Educational attainment
•  Income.