Our Research Collaboration

Volunteering Australia is committed to engaging with and supporting the research activities of the research community to better understand Australia’s volunteering ecosystem. We work closely with partners in research, academia, and government agencies to ensure that studies into volunteering can more successfully generate information that helps to advance volunteering policy and practice.

Volunteering Australia established the National Volunteering Research Network (NVRN) in 2021. The network facilitates the sharing of information and knowledge between researchers and members of wider volunteering ecosystem, with the aim of building collaboration and policy engagement, and raising awareness of current research.

The NVRN meets at least four times per year online, to share updates on current research and policy developments and hear from guest presenters on cutting-edge research findings.

Associate Professor Megan Paull (Murdoch University, Western Australia) and Associate Professor Rachel Winterton (La Trobe University, Victoria) are the current Co-chairs of the network.

If you are undertaking research, or are interested in research relevant to volunteering (in an academic setting or elsewhere), and would like to join the network, please email research@volunteeringaustralia.org/.

Volunteering Australia continues to partner with the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) to help ensure that national data collection accurately reflects the scale, diversity, and impact of volunteering in Australia.

One of our key achievements has been influencing the development of the expanded and refreshed 2025 General Social Survey. This survey provides vital national volunteering behaviour and participation data. Volunteering Australia engaged in extensive consultation with the ABS to enhance the 2025 General Social Survey, and to ensure that future data better captures how Australians volunteer and the changing nature of volunteering into the future.

In partnership with our State and Territory Peak Bodies, we also successfully advocated for volunteering to be included in the Measuring What Matters framework. This inclusion ensures that volunteering is recognised as a key indicator of national wellbeing and is monitored as part of Australia’s long-term social and economic progress.

Volunteering Australia has partnered with Australia National University to include survey questions about volunteering in a series of national longitudinal ANU Polls commissioned by the Centre for Social Research and Methods.

In partnership with Australian National University Centre for Social Research and Methods, Volunteering Australia published seminal research that provided a comprehensive account of volunteering characteristics during the COVID-19 pandemic and decade prior The Volunteer Perspective. This research served as key evidence that helped to inform the development of the National Volunteering Strategy.

Volunteering Australia has also partnered with Australian National University Centre for Social Policy Research to include a volunteering module in the Life in Australia online panel survey, measuring the attitudes, beliefs, and behaviour patterns of Australia.

Care Economy CRC is a collaborative research initiative that co-develops products and solutions for the care economy through a network of partnerships. Volunteering Australia will be advising the Care Economy CRC on matters relating to volunteering where consideration of impacts and workforce is required. This partnership allows Volunteering Australia to engage with CRC on research programs that have implications for volunteering, and provide advice about volunteering interests and issues.