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FEATURE ARTICLE 3: CULTURAL ENCOUNTERS - AUSTRALIA'S ARTS AND HERITAGE VOLUNTEERS
Back to top WHAT IS A CULTURAL VOLUNTEER? For the purposes of this article, a cultural volunteer is someone who reported undertaking voluntary work for an Arts and Heritage organisation. Arts and Heritage organisations include performing arts groups, libraries, museums and galleries and festivals. Heritage organisations also include zoos and botanical gardens. Back to top HOW MANY AUSTRALIANS VOLUNTEER? In the twelve months prior to interview in 2006, 34% of Australians aged 18 years and over, or 5.2 million people, gave their time to support an organisation in a volunteering capacity, providing community support across a wide range of organisations. Those organisations categorised under 'Sport and Physical Recreation', 'Education and Training', 'Community and Welfare' and 'Religious' had the largest number of volunteers, each exceeding 1 million volunteers. In 2006, almost two-thirds of volunteers (62%) worked for one organisation only, 25% for two, 8% for three and 4% for more than three organisations. The work a volunteer does for each particular organisation is referred to as a volunteering involvement. During 2006 there were 7.8 million involvements contributed by 5.2 million volunteers. There was no significant change between the previous GSS 2002 and the GSS 2006 in the numbers of people who gave their time in a volunteering capacity. In 2006, 1.4% of the population aged 18 years and over, or 207,200 people, volunteered their time within an Arts and Heritage organisation, providing over 30.6 million hours of voluntary work. Around 48% of cultural volunteers undertook voluntary work at least once a week, compared to 40% of the total volunteer population. Back to top WHY DO AUSTRALIANS VOLUNTEER? According to the GSS, in the twelve months prior to interview in 2006, 84% of cultural volunteering involvements took place within not-for-profit organisations, consistent with total volunteering involvements (84%). Over one-half of these cultural volunteering involvements (56%) took place within organisations fully staffed by volunteers, compared to 44% of total volunteer involvements. In 2006, around three-fifths of cultural volunteers reported personal satisfaction (60%) and the desire to help others and the community (61%) as the main reasons for undertaking voluntary work, compared to 44% and 57% of total volunteers respectively. The desire to undertake something worthwhile (43%) was also commonly reported by cultural volunteers. Back to top WHAT ISSUES IMPACT ON VOLUNTEERS? In the 2006 GSS, three-quarters (75%) of volunteers engaged within Arts and Heritage organisations incurred expenses associated with their voluntary work (if they also volunteered for a non-cultural organisation, this expense may have been for that organisation), compared to 58% of the total volunteer population. Of those cultural volunteers who incurred expenses, travel costs (83%) and phone calls (75%) were the expenses most commonly reported. Back to top CHARACTERISTICS OF CULTURAL VOLUNTEERS Characteristics of cultural volunteers are discussed below. It is important to remember when making comparisons that cultural volunteers may also be volunteers for other non-cultural organisations. That is, the organisation types are not mutually exclusive. Back to top Sex In 2006, almost two-thirds (63%) of volunteers working within Arts and Heritage organisations were female, compared to 54% of the total volunteer population. Only Sports and Physical Recreation organisations and Emergency Services organisations had more male than female volunteers. Back to top Age In 2006, Australians aged 55-64 years were significantly more likely to volunteer within an Arts and Heritage organisation than all other age groups apart from 35-44 years. Around 24% of cultural volunteers were aged between 55-64 years of age, with 23% aged between 35-44 years of age. The median age of volunteers for Arts and Heritage organisations was 49 years, compared to the national average age of volunteers of 44 years. Back to top Area of residence Overall, people living within capital city statistical divisions were significantly less likely to undertake voluntary work (32%) than people living elsewhere (38%). Similarly for cultural volunteers, the participation rate for those living in capital city statistical divisions (1.3%) was significantly lower than those living in other areas (1.5%). The highest participation rates for cultural volunteers were recorded within the Australian Capital Territory (2.6%), Tasmania (2.5%) and South Australia (2.2%). Queensland recorded the lowest participation rate for cultural volunteers (0.9%). Back to top Employment status Nationally, 70% of total volunteers were employed while 27% of volunteers were not in the labour force. Around 65% of volunteers within Arts and Heritage organisations were employed while 32% were not in the labour force. Some 60% of the employed cultural volunteers were working full-time, compared to 66% of the total employed volunteer population. Back to top Educational attainment In 2006, 37% of cultural volunteers had attained a Bachelor degree, graduate diploma, graduate certificate or above as their highest non-school qualification, compared to 27% of the total volunteer population. Back to top Family composition In 2006, 42% of the total volunteer population belonged to a Couple family with dependent children, while 28% belonged to a Couple family with no children. In comparison, 29% and 35% of cultural volunteers belonged to these family types respectively. Back to top Attendance at cultural venues and events In the twelve months before interview in 2006, 96% of both total and cultural volunteers had attended a selected cultural venue or event. Whilst Cinemas (77%) and Libraries (63%) had the highest attendance rates for cultural volunteers, they also commonly attended Museums (62%), Popular music concerts (57%) and Art galleries (56%). Conversely, total volunteer attendance rates at both Museums and Art galleries were below two fifths of the population (38%). Back to top SUMMARY The following are the characteristics common to the 207,200 volunteers involved in cultural organisations:
For more information on volunteering within Australia please see the following ABS publications: Voluntary Work, Australia, 2006 (cat. no. 4441.0) Arts and Culture in Australia: A Statistical Overview (cat. no. 4172.0) or the Volunteering Australia website www.volunteeringaustralia.org Back to top GLOSSARY Volunteer A volunteer is someone who willingly gave unpaid help, in the form of time, service or skills, to or through an organisation or group. The reference period was the 12 months prior to the survey. Voluntary work done overseas is out of scope for this survey. The reimbursement of expenses in full or part (e.g. token payments) or small gifts (e.g. sports club T-shirts or caps) was not regarded as payment of salary, and people who received these were still included as voluntary workers. However, people who received payment in kind for the work they did (e.g. receiving farm produce as payment for work done on a farm, rather than cash) were not included as volunteers. For the 2006 voluntary work collection, in consultation with the peak body for volunteer organisations, the 'willingly undertaken' part of the definition was refined by the exclusion of an involvement with an organisation that, while recognised as unpaid community work, was not strictly voluntary or would not normally be seen as voluntary work: the Work for the Dole Program or Community Work under Mutual Obligation; work experience/part of an unpaid work trial; work under a Community Service Order; a student placement; or emergency work during an industrial dispute. Volunteer involvement For each volunteer, work for a particular organisation. A volunteer could have a number of organisational involvements: a set of information was collected for up to three of these. Volunteer rate For any group, the number of volunteers in that group expressed as a percentage of total population in that group. Back to top REFERENCES Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2007, General Social Survey: Summary Results, Australia, 2006, cat. no. 4159.0, ABS, Canberra. Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2004, Information Paper: Measuring Social capital: An Australian Framework and Indicators, cat. no. 1378.0, ABS, Canberra. Volunteering Australia, Definitions and Principles of Volunteering, www.volunteeringaustralia.org/files/AOAL2F8K3S/VA%20Definitions%20and%20Principles%20June%202005.pdf Volunteering Australia, Universal Declaration on Volunteering, www.volunteeringaustralia.org/files/W1SB4NDLFF/Universal%20Declaration%20on%20Volunteering.pdf Back to top Document Selection These documents will be presented in a new window.
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4172.0 - Arts and Culture in Australia: A Statistical Overview, 2008 (First Edition)
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 26/05/2008
This page last updated 2 June 2009