11.6% ▼ -41.7%
Lower than 99% of urban area areas.
- 2011: 19.9%
- 2016: 20.6%
- 2021: 11.6%
Share of people aged 15+ who did voluntary work for an organisation or group.
Sydney · Urban Area
Community Participation in Sydney
How people contribute — volunteering, unpaid care and domestic work, and defence service.
An 8.3 percentage point drop in volunteering since 2011 defines the recent trend in Sydney. Only 11.6% of residents now volunteer, which is among the lowest rates for areas at this level. This decline reflects a broader shift in how people spend their spare time across the city.
Participation
Volunteering for organisations and groups.
Just 11.6% of people in Sydney volunteer, which is a little below the national figure of 14.1%. This represents a significant fall from 2011, when nearly 20% of the population volunteered.
Unpaid care & work
Caring for others and unpaid domestic work.
Providing unpaid care is much less common here than in most areas, with only 10.5% of people doing so. About 25.1% of residents provide unpaid childcare, a figure that is about the same as the New South Wales average.
10.5% ▼ -7.6%
Lower than 86% of urban area areas.
- 2011: 11.4%
- 2016: 11.9%
- 2021: 10.5%
Share of people aged 15+ who provided unpaid assistance to someone with a disability or due to old age.
25.1% ▼ -13.3%
Lower than 59% of urban area areas.
- 2011: 28.9%
- 2016: 28.3%
- 2021: 25.1%
Share of people aged 15+ who provided unpaid child care.
20.1% ▼ -17.6%
Lower than 72% of urban area areas.
- 2011: 24.4%
- 2016: 22.3%
- 2021: 20.1%
Share of people aged 15+ who did 15 hours or more of unpaid domestic work in the week before the Census.
Defence service
People who served in the Australian Defence Force.
Defence service is rare in Sydney, where only 1.5% of people have served. This is among the lowest rates for similar areas and is a little below the Australian figure of 2.8%.
1.5%
Lower than 99% of urban area areas.
Share of people aged 15+ who have ever served in the Australian Defence Force (currently or previously).
Sources
- Census of Population and Housing — Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2021 (CC BY 4.0).
More for Sydney
Cite this page
Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2021). Community Participation in Sydney [Census of Population and Housing]. CensusAtlas, used under CC BY 4.0. https://censusatlas.au/region/sua/1031/sydney/topic/community