Victoria’s first ever State of Volunteering Report has found that a remarkable 40 per cent of Victorians over the age of 15 are contributing their valuable time and energy to support the community.  

Parliamentary Secretary for Carers and Volunteers Anthony Carbines today launched the report, which estimates volunteering contributed a massive $58.1 billion worth of economic value in 2019.

The new report will underpin the Victoria Government’s first volunteering strategy, which will guide future investment to support volunteering activities across the state.

Developed in partnership with Volunteering Victoria, the report highlights the many economic, social and cultural benefits being delivered across the state by 2.3 million Victorian volunteers. 

This support includes a diverse range of activities, from helping community members with their weekly shopping, improving our environment, tutoring school students to working with our emergency services.

Volunteering fosters strong community connections – with the report finding that social connection is the number one reason people volunteer.

To support volunteering during the coronavirus pandemic, the Victorian Government launched We Volunteer, a new online platform to connect prospective volunteers with community organisations who rely on volunteers to help Victorians in need.

We Volunteer enables people looking for volunteer roles to register their skills and search for roles that meet their interests – with many of these roles able to be performed from home. Volunteer organisations are also able to sign-up to the portal and use it to make callouts for volunteers needed on their various projects.

The Victorian Government has invested $800,000 to develop the platform, including funding for 13 Volunteer Support Organisations to create 150 new safety roles focused on training to help keep all our volunteers connected and safe during the coronavirus pandemic.

Community consultation for the Victorian Volunteer Strategy is already underway – Victorians are encouraged to have their say at engage.vic.gov.au/victorian-volunteer-strategy.