From the Dragon Boat Regatta in Broome to the Orange Mardi Gras festival on the other side of the country, community events are being cancelled and emergency services are struggling to cope as the number of volunteers plummets.
The trend has triggered soul-searching among community groups and charities — is it a temporary blip linked to the COVID pandemic, or have Australians become more selfish?
"What we've seen is a longer-term decline in volunteering rates, and that's been amplified by the COVID pandemic," Volunteering Australia CEO Mark Pearce says.
