Volunteering Queensland is leading a new initiative to increase volunteering rates among older Queenslanders. By providing resources, support, and local connections, Volunteering Queensland will empower seniors to engage in meaningful volunteer roles that enhance their lives and communities.
Seniors Volunteering is a program designed to help Queensland’s older community members (aged 65 and over) to stay connected and continue making a difference in their local community through volunteering. Supported by funding from the Queensland Government, this pilot project will trial supports that create pathways to volunteering for older Queenslanders.
A report released by Volunteering Queensland, The State of Volunteering for Older Queenslanders 2024, found that:
- 484,000 (52.3%) of Queensland residents aged 65 and over volunteer contributing an average of 19.1 hours per month or 111.1 million hours per year
- Older people volunteer to help others, for enjoyment, to use their skills and experience and to be active
- The main barriers to volunteering more were no time, costs and health reasons
- The main barriers to people starting to volunteer were no time, never having been asked and health reasons
- For every $1 invested in volunteering for older Queenslanders there is an $8.70 return
“Volunteering is a great way to stay active, meet new people, and make a meaningful contribution to your community. Through this campaign, we hope to create a lasting change in the way older Queenslanders engage with volunteer opportunities, helping them stay connected, healthy, and fulfilled” said Jane Hedger, CEO Volunteering Queensland.
“We are grateful for the support of the Queensland Government to explore new models that leverage the opportunity volunteering provides Older Queenslanders. 23% of people aren’t volunteering as they haven’t been asked, so we are going to ask older Queenslanders and guide them into volunteering roles through piloting on the ground assistance in two locations across Queensland: the Fraser Coast and Maranoa local government areas,” Ms Hedger said.
This exciting program will officially launch at the end of January 2025.
If you are interested in having someone contact you in February 2025 to help you on your volunteering journey, click the button below.
Volunteer Support
We are looking for a Project Support Volunteer in Brisbane and Volunteer Ambassadors in the Fraser Coast to support this project. If you are interested, find out more about the roles and apply via the links below.