Fewer Queenslanders are volunteering year-on-year and while the 2032 Brisbane Games are expected to see a spike in numbers, it might not be the saving grace it has been touted as, a governmental inquiry has found.
The inquiry into volunteering in Queensland, released on Thursday, found the number of volunteers fell by about 200,000 people between 2020 and 2023, with those remaining “increasingly being expected to give more”.
“Those who remain are increasingly burdened by rising expectations, financial costs, and regulatory hurdles,” the report read.
Essential service providers, including Meals on Wheels Queensland and Neighbourhood Centres Queensland said they were concerned they wouldn’t have the required numbers to function.Credit: Getty Images
To draw in new long-term volunteers, the state is hoping to leverage the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games, but the report has cautioned the Games will bring fresh issues, as volunteer numbers were not a “zero-sum game”.
“While the Games can galvanise a new era of volunteering, [it] could also be accompanied by the potential for a temporary drain on existing community volunteer programs and a dissipation of interest after the Games have finished,” the report committee noted.
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“An event-specific surge does not necessarily compensate for the loss of a trained, committed, and long-standing volunteer base from essential services.”
Those essential service providers, including Meals on Wheels Queensland and Neighbourhood Centres Queensland said they were concerned they wouldn’t have the required numbers to function.
The report also warned volunteering could decrease after the 2032 Games, pointing to the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, after which increased volunteer participation didn’t translate across organisation types.
