News

The number of people volunteering across NSW is on the rise, with an extra 600,000 people across the state giving their time to help others, according to the latest research on volunteering in NSW.

The increase was captured in the 2025 NSW State of Volunteering Report which estimates that 4.9 million people over 15 years of age are now volunteering in NSW, an increase of 5.6% over the past two years.

Commissioned by The Centre for Volunteering, with funding from the NSW Department of Communities and Justice, the report presents a detailed examination of the characteristics of volunteers and volunteer management in NSW. It explores the strengths and challenges in the volunteering sector, and the immense contribution of volunteering to the state.

This is the third State of Volunteering Report to be published since 2021 and is the most comprehensive measure of volunteering and its impacts. The report concludes that volunteering contributes more than $205 billion to the NSW economy, or 2.4% of Gross State Product.

Every dollar invested in volunteering returns around $5.60 in economic and social benefits.

The Centre for Volunteering CEO Gemma Rygate said the report’s findings showed that volunteers in NSW are giving more time and effort to support social and economic wellbeing.

“The report shows that people are returning to volunteering after the COVID years and this is a very positive sign for NSW,” Ms Rygate said.

“We know that volunteering makes communities healthier, stronger and more resilient. This latest report also shows it’s a boost to economic wellbeing in NSW.

“Every dollar invested in volunteering provides a five-fold return to the NSW economy. It’s a sure sign that we need to keep investing in volunteering and support for volunteer managers.”

Some of the key findings of the 2025 Report include:

• 69.5% of NSW residents aged 15 and over volunteered in the past year – a total of 4.9 million volunteers.
• Volunteers give over 1.3 billion hours of their time to their communities each year.
• The number of volunteers (69.5%) is higher than in 2023 (63.9%).
• About 78% of people aged between 15-24 volunteer, 80% of people aged between 35-44 volunteer and 60% for those aged between 55-64 volunteer.
• The replacement cost of volunteering is $45.5 billion.
• The economic impact of volunteering continues to grow, with volunteering contributing a benefit of $205.3 billion to NSW, or 2.4% of NSW Gross State Product.
• Every dollar invested in volunteering returns around $5.60 in economic and social benefits.
• The cost of volunteering continues to increase, with the average cost to volunteers per hour increasing to $15.45, or $4,200 a year.
• These costs are even more pronounced for younger volunteers, with an average cost per hour of $18.84 for volunteers aged 15-29, the highest of any cohort.

Read the report here.