8696.0 - Community Services, 2008-09 Quality Declaration 
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 24/06/2010   
   Page tools: Print Print Page Print all pages in this productPrint All
MEDIA RELEASE
June 24, 2010
Embargoed: 11.30 am (AEDT)
73/2010

Organisations spend $25 billion on community services, ‘Non-profits’ lead the way: ABS

Australia's community service providers spent $25.2 billion on direct services in 2008-09, according to figures released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

Just over half of this expenditure was by 'not for profit' organisations. Commonwealth, state and territory government organisations contributed $3.8 billion directly and also provided a further $9.5 billion in funding and payments to private organisations and self-employed contractors.

In addition community service providers spent a further $4.0 billion on related or overhead community assistance.

Residential care was the largest area of direct expenditure, with organisations spending $12.6 billion on activities such as aged and disabled care, as well as transitional accommodation. A total of $5.9 billion was spent on personal and social support activities, and $3.8 billion on child care.

Women dominate community services sector

At the end of June 2009 there were nearly 11,000 businesses and organisations involved in the provision of community services. These included 5,809 'not for profit' organisations, 4,638 'for profit' organisations, and 520 government organisations.

Over half a million people were employed by organisations providing community services, 78% of whom were female. Most employees were aged between 26 and 46 years and over 42% were employed on a permanent part time basis.

There were 325,440 volunteers assisting community services organisations during 2008-09, providing 78 hours of voluntary services on average.

Further information is in Community Services, Australia 2008-09 (cat. no 8696.0), available for free download from the ABS website at www.abs.gov.au.

When reporting on ABS data, please attribute either the Australian Bureau of Statistics or ABS as the source.