When I looked around at the congregation of the church where I was minister, I was conscious that most of the congregation were involved in voluntary work of some kind. One person organised the Red Cross. Another was very active in Neighbourhood Watch. One person was on the committee of a football club. Another accountant helped several voluntary organisations by auditing their books without charge. This was all apart from their work within the life of the church and its associated organisations.
The Bureau of Statistics came to the conclusion that 2,639,500 persons, representing 19% of the population over 15 years of age, undertook some voluntary work within the period of 12 months. In one year, those people put in a total of approximately 433,900,000 hours of voluntary work. This means that, on average, each volunteer gave a little over 3 hours a week of their time. Their contribution to Australian life is enormous.
The ABS researchers found that people outside the state capital cities were more likely to volunteer for voluntary activities than people in the cities, and women were more likely to be involved than men (21% compared with 17%). Voluntary work is not the perogative of the retired, however; nor of those involved in home duties. Twenty-seven per cent of people between the ages of 35 and 44 did some voluntary work: a higher rate than any other age group. The ABS researchers noted that this reflected family commitments. They found that people with dependent children were much more likely to be involved in voluntary work: 30% among women compared with 19% of women without dependent children. Among men, 23% with dependent children were involved in voluntary work, compared with 17% of men without dependent children.
Having full-time work does not stop people from doing voluntary work. Almost two-thirds of all those involved in voluntary work were engaged in the work-force. People in professions, managers and administrators were much more highly involved that tradespersons, labourers, and machine operators. The nature of the occupation often related to the area of voluntary work. For example, health and community service workers tended to volunteer in health areas and education people in training or youth development work.
The major areas of voluntary work were:

1. Sport/recreation/hobby organisations: 31.4% of all volunteers were engaged in such, spending 104.6 million hours in the year.

2. Welfare/community: 29.7% of all volunteers, spending 105.7 million hours.

3. Education/training/youth development: 25.3% of all volunteers, spending 61.1 million hours.

4. Religious: 17.7% of all volunteers, spending 70.6 million hours.
Other areas were comparatively minor:
Health involved 24 million hours
Arts/culture - 15.5 million hours
Emergency services - 14.8 million hours
Environmental/animal welfare - 12.4 million hours
Business, professional, unions - 7.8 million hours
Law/justice/political - 3.7 million hours
Foreign/international - 2.6 million hours.
Volunteers do a wide variety of things. However, fund-raising tops the list as the area involving most people. Second to that comes management and committee work, followed by preparing or serving food.
Many of those who are engaged in voluntary work, keep up the involvement for many years. 28% of all volunteers had been engaged with the organisation they were serving for ten years or more. Among those working in religious organisations, the length of service was particularly striking: an average longer than with any other organisation. 44.3% of volunteers had been volunteering for more than 10 years. The amount of time given by each volunteer was also higher in religious organisations than almost any other. 12% of volunteers in religious organisations gave over 300 hours in the year to their work. This was surpassed only in the arts and culture area where 12.2% of volunteers gave over 300 hours in the year.
Why do people volunteer? People were allowed to state more than one benefit.
59.4% of the volunteers - said that it was personal satisfaction.
38.3% cited the benefit of social contact.
29.6% said they were helping others or helping the community, and
24.4% said they were doing something worthwhile.
6.1% said they were following their religious beliefs.
Among those who worked in religious organisations,
63.6% cited personal satisfaction as a reason for their volunteering;
34.6% mentioned social contact
33.8% helping others or the community
26.1% doing something worthwhile
13.3% learning new skills
12.5% family involvement
11.6% used skills or experience
34.6% gave some other reason, such as following their religious beliefs.
What were the initial reasons for becoming a volunteer?
41.5% to help others or the community
33.5% personal or family involvement
26.6% personal satisfaction
23.3% doing something worthwhile
15.7% social contact
12.9% felt obliged, or just happened
11.5% use skills or experience
11.0% to be active
9.3% religious beliefs
6.4% to learn new skills
4.6% to gain work experience/reference.
The survey measured the extent of work among religious organisations. However, it did not show that much of the work done in welfare, among sporting clubs, in arts, culture, and education, and many other fields, is also organised by church groups. The churches contribute enormously to the organisation of voluntary work throughout Australia.
The survey measured the explicit significance of religious beliefs in people becoming a volunteer. Nearly 10% of all volunteers said their religious beliefs were one of the reasons for volunteering. However, the research did not investigate encouragement given to volunteers through church involvement, or the fact that churches organise much voluntary work, and advertise opportunities. Neither did it recognise the fact that the ethos of churches, and the involvement of other people, draws people into voluntary work. Unfortunately, the study did not ask people about levels of church-attendance, or about their identification with churches.
A study, based on National Social Science Survey data, and reported in Pointers in December 1995, found that church-going relates very closely to involvement in voluntary work. 45% of church attenders are involved compared with 18% of those who never go to church.
The contribution of voluntary work to Australian life and economy has often not been given full recognition, nor has the contribution which churches make. The Community Survey, currently being conducted by the National Church Life Survey Team in conjunction with Prof. Alan Black at Edith Cowan University, is hoping to make a more thorough assessment of the churches’ roles in voluntary work as it looks at the role of the churches in community life throughout Australia.

Philip Hughes