The survey found that 91 per cent of organisations currently have volunteers assisting in their organisation. Moreover, 76 per cent of organisations in Australia said that they need more volunteers.

“While Australia has quite a high number of volunteers, this report shows that the services provided by Australia’s community organisations are in greater demand than ever before and this requires more volunteers,” Volunteering Australia CEO Cary Pedicini said.

Other findings of the survey include:

• Close to one third of organisations said that over 75 per cent of their work is done by volunteers.
• 81 per cent believed that the demand for their services is greater now than at any time in the past.
• 66 per cent of organisations said a shortage of volunteers had a big or very big impact on their ability to deliver services.

NAB Deputy CEO Michael Ullmer said that there was a need to remove the barriers that prevented people from volunteering, such as lack of time, and community organisations often lack resources that make it difficult to manage volunteers.

“We believe it is time that all major businesses in Australia provide employees with time to volunteer and contribute to the community,” Ullmer said.

NAB provides their staff with two days per year to volunteer, and over the last twelve years, it has built relationships with over 350 local community organisations.

Emily Hollosy

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