Australian Communities Report

The sector that most directly and deliberately improves and supports Australian communities is the not-for profit sector. Charities are in many ways the heart of Australia and their value to this nation is demonstrated by the almost $135 billion given in the last year, most of it by the community rather than government. The esteem of this sector is demonstrated by the size of the charity workforce, which employs 1 in every 10 Australian workers, and is second in size only to retail. In addition to the 1.2 million Australians employed by not-for-profits are the 3.6 million volunteers, all of which makes charities by far Australia’s largest labour force.

While 1 in 5 Australian adults has volunteered for a community organisation in the last year, 4 in 5 adults have given financially to such organisations, with 1 in 4 giving at least monthly.

With generation change, demographic shifts and technological transformation, the landscape for charities is rapidly changing. For the average charity, half of their supporters have joined them since this decade began- and over the same period of time, the nation has grown by almost 3 million people.

The purpose of this annual Australian Communities Report is to equip leaders in the sector to respond with relevance to the changing external environment and the emerging trends. This 2017 study builds on the results from the 2016 and 2015 research and offers insights to help Australia’s not-for-profit leaders continue to create ripples of change that over time will build the capacity of communities locally, nationally and indeed globally.

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