Social connections

Having time for family and community

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Release date and time
15/09/2025 11:30am AEST

Released 15/09/2025

Metrics

  • Proportion of people who agreed with the statement ‘I often feel very lonely'
  • Proportion of people who undertake voluntary work

Why this matters

One reason that people value free time is because it can be used to pursue social connection, which is critical to overall wellbeing. We can measure whether Australians have access to the relationships and social connection that they need by tracking the presence of loneliness in the community.

One way Australians may seek to maintain social connections is volunteering.

Progress

Feelings of loneliness

In 2023, for people aged 15 years and over:

  • around one in six (17%) people reported often feeling lonely, similar to the level reported in 2022 (18%)
  • the proportion of people who reported often feeling lonely was consistent with levels reported in the early 2000s, although it has increased from 13% in 2009. 
  1. HILDA results are custom analysis of the HILDA survey, funded by the Australian Government Department of Social Services and managed by the Melbourne Institute.
Data Source
Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey

Voluntary work

In 2020, for people aged 15 years and over:

  • one in four people (25%) volunteered formally (through an organisation), while in 2019 the proportion was closer to one in three (30%)
  • around one in three people (32%) volunteered informally (not through an organisation), similar to 2019 (33%). 

Volunteering data comes from the General Social Survey (GSS) which was conducted in 2020 while COVID-19 related restrictions were in force. Care should be used when making comparisons with previous years.

Supplementary data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey shows that in 2022, 22% of people 15 years and older at least occasionally volunteered their spare time to work on boards or organising committees of clubs, community groups or other non-profit organisations, down from 25% in 2018.

From 2026 onwards, this indicator will be updated annually with data from the expanded GSS.

  1. Voluntary work through an organisation is in the last 12 months and for people aged 18 years and older to permit comparisons back to 2006.
  2. Informal volunteering is in the last 4 weeks and for people aged 15 years and older. 
Data Source
ABS General Social Survey – Table 1.3 and 17.1

Differences across groups

In 2023, the proportion of people aged 15 years and over who reported often feeling lonely was:

  • lower for males (15%) than females (19%)
  • similar to pre-COVID levels (around 18%) for the population aged 15-24 years, following a 3-year period from 2020 to 2022 when the proportion averaged around 22%
  • lower than in 2003 for the population aged 65 years and over (16% compared with 20%), while the proportions for all other age groups were similar in both years 

In 2020, for people aged 15 years and over: 

  • formal volunteering rates were similar for males (23%) and females (26%)
  • informal volunteering rates for males and females were both 32%
  • people aged 40-54 years had the highest participation rate in formal volunteering (31%), while those aged 15-24 years had the lowest (19%).

Disaggregation

Additional information using other measures of loneliness, including data visualisation by age and sex, is available at AIHW: Social isolation and loneliness.

Proportion of people who undertake voluntary work: ABS General Social Survey.

Disaggregation available includes: 

  • Age group, including age group by sex
  • Sex
  • Labour force status
  • Educational attainment
  • Income
  • Main language spoken at home
  • Family composition of household.