Giving by Individuals

It's estimated that 14.9 million Australian adults (80.8% of the population) gave $12.5 billion to charities and not-for-profits organisations in 2015-16. The average donation was $764.08 and the median donation was was $200. Compared with 10 years ago, a smaller proportion of Australians are giving, but they are giving larger amounts.

	2005 (in 2016 Dollar Terms)	2016
Total Donations from Individuals	$10.1b	$12.5b
Donors - Number - Percent	13.4m 87%	14.9m 81%
Average Donation	$553.92	$764.08
Median Donation	$130.64	$200

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For more information about individual giving in Australia, see this Giving Australia 2016 fact sheet.

Source: Giving Australia 2016.

Is the average gift deduction increasing?

The average tax-deductible donation made in 2015-16 was $666.72, which is a decrease of 6% from $674.14 in 2013-14
 
Is the median gift increasing?

In 2015-16 the median amount donated and claimed was $110. This is an increase of 5% from 2014-15 where the median donation was $105
 
Are more individual taxpayers making donations?

The number of individual taxpayers claiming deductable gifts was 4.51 million in 2015-16, compared with 4.51 million in 2014-15, this decrease is part of a wider trend with the percentage declining each year since 2011-12.
 
Who gives more in Australia – men or women?

In 2015-16 females gave a slightly larger portion of their taxable income than males 0.39% compared to 0.34%
 
Which are the most generous states in Australia in 2015-16?

State	Total donation amount
NSW	$1.11 billion
VIC	$793.31 million
QLD	$380.06 million
WA	$278.53 million

 

 

 
 
 

State	Average donation level	Total donated of taxable income
NSW	$763.03	0.42%
VIC	$632.32	0.41%
ACT	$684.64	0.41%

 

 

 

 
Which occupation were Australia’s most generous givers in 2015-16?

For the 6th year running police were the most generous occupation, with 73.61% individuals giving, followed by School Principals and Policy and Planning Manager. The highest average deductions were claimed by CEOs and Managing Directors, followed by surgeons and internal medical specialists (this is consistent with previous years).
 
What are the most popular giving areas Australians support?

In 2015-16 religion, international giving and then health were the three most popular causes

Source: The Australian Centre for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Studies report – An Examination of Tax-Deductible Donations Made by Individual Australian Taxpayers in 2015-16

 

Giving by Trusts and Foundations

There are over 3,000 Private Ancillary Funds (PAF) and Public Ancillary Funds (PuAF) in Australia. These are two common forms of philanthropic organisations, but represent only a subset of the total number of philanthropic organisations in Australia.

PAFs gave over $450 million in 2015-6 and PuAFs gave $394.14 million. In the case of PAFs, for whom we have 13 years of data for, the annual amount of giving has been rising though there has been some increased volatility in recent years.

 

In addition to PAFs and PuAFs, there are approximately 2000-3000 other types of trusts and foundations in Australia. Unfortunately at this stage we do not have data with which we can estimate how much these trusts and foundations give.

Giving by Business

Australian business may give money (66% of their total giving), goods (17% of their total giving) or services (18% of their total giving).

In 2015-16, businesses gave $17.5 billion, which comprised.

• $7.7 billion in community partnerships
• $6.2 billion in donations
• $3.6 billion in non-commercial sponsorships

Larger businesses tend to give more than small businesses.

For more information about business giving in Australia, see this Giving Australia 2016 fact sheet.

Source: Giving Australia 2016.
 

Reliance on giving by Australian charities

Charities have three main income sources - government, giving and other income/revenue (which includes income from memberships, sales and investments). A breakdown of income sources for the entire charity sector shows that giving and philanthropy comprises 8.3% of the charity sector's total income.

Around 1 in 4 charities depend on giving and philanthropy for 50% or more of their total income. Smaller charities tend to depend on giving and philanthropy for a higher proportion of their income compared with larger charities.

Source: Australian Charities Report 2015.

The Biggest and Oldest Foundations in Australia

Australia's biggest foundation is the Paul Ramsay Foundation, based in Sydney.

Australia's oldest foundation is the Wyatt Trust, based in Adelaide.
 

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