Giving Australia

About the Project

We’re proud to be a Principal Sector Partner of Giving Australia 2016, the largest ever research effort into giving and volunteering in Australia. The project is an initiative of the Prime Minister's Community Business Partnership, and is led by the Australian Centre for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Studies (ACPNS) at Queensland University of Technology in partnership with the Centre for Social Impact at Swinburne University of Technology and the Centre for Corporate Public Affairs.

The research provides comprehensive and up-to-date information about giving and volunteering behaviours, attitudes and trends. It establishes benchmark data to measure changes in the giving of money and time, providing a strong evidence base to assist future policy decisions to grow giving and volunteering in Australia.

Giving Australia 2016 was launched on 1 December 2016, and its reports and fact sheets are being released progressively though 2017.

When released, reports, fact sheets and other documents can be found on the Prime Minister’s Community Business Partnership website.

UPDATE 5 April 2017 - Launch of Report on Philanthropy and Philanthropists

The Minister for Social Services, the Hon Christian Porter MP, released the first of five research reports from Giving Australia 2016 on 5 April 2017. The report focuses on philanthropy and philanthropists, and you can it here.

Some key themes and insights from the report include:

• Culture, in the sense of shared norms and values, is an enduring motivator and shaper of giving behaviour.
• The mechanisms by which giving cultures are shaped appear to be expanding as new (or recently revived) mechanisms and practices emerge - one of the strongest themes of the research was the ‘democratisation’ of philanthropy, with a growing emphasis on giving as being ‘everyone’s business’.
• There is a growing emphasis on having an impact and being engaged in achieving outcomes.
• From individual through to institutional experiences of philanthropy, a core theme was that philanthropy is enabled where giving is made accessible and easy - this is influenced by taxation incentives and legal and regulatory policies that affect structured giving

Fact sheets were also released on charitable bequests and structured giving vehicles and philanthropy.

UPDATE 1 December 2016 - Launch of Giving Australia

The Assistant Minister for Social Services and Multicultural Affairs, Senator the Hon Zed Seselja, launched the first Giving Australia 2016 reports at Parliament House on 1 December 2016. You can read the Assistant Minister's speech here.

Some key Giving Australia 2016 findings include:

• 14.9 million Australians gave $12.5 billion to charities and not-for-profit organisations over 12 months in 2015-16. This compares with $10.1 billion (in 2015 dollar terms) given to charities and not-for-profit organisations in 2005. 
• 81% of Australians donated money to charities and not-for-profit organisations in 2015-2016, with an average donation amount of $764.08. Compared with 2005, fewer people are giving larger amounts. 
• Planned givers donate six times more than spontaneous givers.
• Corporate philanthropy is thriving. In 2015-16, large business gave $9 billion and small and medium enterprises giving $8.5 billion, totalling $17.5 billion over the previous financial year.