The COVID-19 pandemic hit volunteering very hard. By June 2021, volunteer numbers in Australia had fallen by 37% from the start of the pandemic.
In the first two years of the pandemic, around 1.86 million people left volunteering, according to Volunteering Australia. Last year, 26.7% of the population did formal volunteer work. That’s well down from the pre-COVID level of 36% in 2019.
Many depleted volunteer services are now feeling the strain of increasing demand due to the cost-of-living crisis. They are also facing the compounding effects of an ageing population, the ongoing impacts of COVID-19, unaffordable housing and the mental health epidemic.
