Huge numbers of young volunteers propping up SA economy
Surprise results in a new report show young South Australians lead the way in sacrificing time and money to volunteer, but most are left way out of pocket. If volunteering were counted as an industry, it would now be the state’s largest employer.
Almost three-quarters of South Australians aged 15 to 34 are volunteering, bucking the trend of older people shouldering the burden of vital services and bolstering the growing economic benefits of giving back.
The 2025 State of Volunteering SA report, released today, found the total value of volunteering to SA was $45 billion with the top numbers recorded for sport and recreation followed closely by community and welfare.
But the cost of volunteering is continually rising, with the average volunteer in 2025 left $18 per hour out of pocket – up 20 per cent from $14.92 in 2023 and equating to an average of $5300 per volunteer per year, the report commissioned by Volunteering SA&NT said.
Volunteering SA&NT CEO Hamilton Calder was not surprised by the results of surveying 1032 South Australians aged 15 and older showing the growing costs shouldered by volunteers.
“A lot of these pressures are completely out of our control,” he told InDaily.
“What is in our control is working with organisations that have volunteers to look at ways to reduce those cost burdens.”
Just 15 per cent of respondents reported that expenses were reimbursed in full, the report found, with most of the costs spent on transport (18 per cent), food and drink (16.5 per cent) and overnight accommodation (12.8 per cent).
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“We want to reduce those barriers,” Calder said.
“We know that fuel and petrol prices have played a significant part in that rising cost for volunteers.”
But the economic benefit to the state rose significantly since Volunteers SA&NT first pulled together a report in 2023.
Volunteering in South Australia generated an estimated $45 billion in “measurable benefits”, up $9 billion from $36 billion in 2023 and contributed 2.8 per cent to the state’s gross domestic product.
Calder said this figure “highlights the impact volunteers have”, noting that more than 1 million people volunteer across South Australia (about 63.7 per cent of the total South Australian population aged 15 and over).
"If volunteering were counted as an industry, it would be the state’s largest employer."
And the number of young volunteers was rising; about 74 per cent of people aged 15 to 34 volunteered in 2025 – up from 67 per cent in 2023.
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Calder said this represented a change over the past two decades, “where we’ve had that older age group doing the heavy lifting of volunteering as people have retired”.
Sixteen-year-old Fletcher Pearce, who volunteers at the Tea Tree Gully Heritage Museum, said volunteering “pays for itself”.
“It makes me happy; I learn new things, different skills and I get to support and connect with my community,” Pearce said.
“In lots of places, history goes quiet, but here it’s kept alive.
“I’m so proud to volunteer here because this museum is part of my local community and preserving history is important to me. If people contribute to where they live, they’ll get more out of it and it will be a better place for everyone.”
The new report found 53.8 per cent of people aged 65 and older volunteered equating to around 206,800 people.
Even with the cost burden on volunteers, the report found nearly 70 per cent of volunteers intended to maintain or increase their involvement over the next three years, alongside 21.3 per cent of non-volunteers who expect to start volunteering.
South Australians spent 294.8 million hours volunteering in 2025 – an average of 17 volunteer hours per month.
Those surveyed said the top benefit of volunteering was a “sense of purpose”, but the top barrier to volunteering was a lack of time.
Calder said work still needed to be done to make volunteering “inclusive and flexible”.
“That ensures that you’ve got a fantastic pool and pipeline of volunteers into the future,” he said.
| Domain | Volunteer Hours | Travel Hours | Total Hours | Travel % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total (All Domains) | 204.5 | 90.3 | 294.6 | 30.7% |
| Sport & recreation | 39.8 | 17.7 | 57.5 | 30.8% |
| Community & welfare | 32.4 | 13.7 | 46.1 | 29.7% |
| Neighbourhood | 25.9 | 10.4 | 36.3 | 28.7% |
| Environment | 19.2 | 10.7 | 29.9 | 35.8% |
| Youth & education | 17.6 | 9.4 | 26.9 | 34.9% |
| Arts & culture | 12.2 | 10.1 | 22.3 | 45.3% |
| Civic & advocacy | 12.2 | 5.4 | 17.5 | 30.9% |
| Emergency services | 9.1 | 4.6 | 13.7 | 33.6% |
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