The Economic Value of Volunteering in Australian Sport

The Number Nobody Talks About

There are approximately 2.9 million volunteers in sport and recreation across Australia. That is not a typo. Nearly three million people give their time — unpaid — to run the competitions, maintain the facilities, serve on the committees, and chase the invoices that keep community sport alive.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics tracks the economic value of this labour. Using the replacement cost methodology — what would it cost to pay someone to do the work volunteers do for free — the current figure sits at approximately $47 per hour.

Do the maths on your own club. If you have 15 volunteers each contributing 4 hours per week, that is 60 volunteer hours per week. At $47 per hour, your club is receiving $2,820 worth of labour every week. That is $146,640 per year.

Most clubs have never calculated this number. They should.

Where the $47 Figure Comes From

The methodology was established by Associate Professor Dr Lisel O'Dwyer at the University of Adelaide, building on earlier work by Professor Duncan Ironmonger. It is the standard approach used by Volunteering Australia, Volunteering SA&NT, and most state peak volunteering bodies.

The calculation uses the biannual ABS Average Weekly Earnings figures for Australia. The average ordinary-time earnings are divided by standard working hours to produce an hourly rate. An additional 15% is added for employer on-costs — superannuation, payroll tax, and administrative expenses.

The resulting figure varies by state and age group. Volunteering Queensland publishes age-specific rates ranging from $20.59 per hour for 15-24 year olds to $58.44 per hour for 45-54 year olds. The all-ages national average is approximately $47.84 per hour.

This is not a theoretical exercise. These are the figures used by government funding bodies, grant assessors, and peak sporting organisations when evaluating the economic contribution of community sport.

Why This Matters for Your Club

Grant applications

Most government grants — from Sport Australia's Participation grants to state-level active communities funding — require or encourage applicants to quantify in-kind contributions. Volunteer labour is typically the largest in-kind contribution a club makes.

A club that writes "we have many dedicated volunteers" in a grant application is leaving money on the table. A club that writes "our 22 active volunteers contributed 4,576 hours last financial year, valued at $215,072 using the ABS replacement cost methodology" is making a quantified case that grant assessors can evaluate.

Committee and board reporting

When your treasurer presents the annual budget, volunteer labour is invisible. Revenue minus expenses equals surplus or deficit. But the true cost of running your club includes the labour that is not on the P&L.

If your club spends $80,000 per year in cash expenses and receives $146,000 in volunteer labour, the true cost of operations is $226,000. The cash budget tells you one-third of the story.

This matters when committees make decisions about whether to invest in technology, hire a part-time administrator, or restructure volunteer roles. Without knowing the true cost of volunteer labour, these decisions are made with incomplete information.

Volunteer recognition and retention

Volunteers who understand the economic value of their contribution feel differently about their role. Telling a volunteer "you gave 200 hours last year" is good. Telling them "you gave 200 hours last year — that is $9,400 worth of professional labour that keeps this club running" is better.

This is not about making volunteers feel guilty or obligated. It is about helping them understand that their contribution is substantial, measurable, and valued.

The Hidden Cost of Volunteer Admin Time

Here is where the economic argument intersects with technology.

If your club secretary spends 8 hours per week on administrative tasks — chasing renewals, processing payments, updating spreadsheets, sending event reminders, preparing committee reports — that is 416 hours per year. At $47 per hour, that is $19,552 in volunteer labour spent on tasks that software can automate.

The question is not "can we afford club management software?" The question is "can we afford to spend $19,552 per year in volunteer labour on tasks a $50/month platform can handle?"

When a volunteer spends Sunday afternoon chasing six unpaid membership renewals by text message, that is not free. It is $47 per hour of skilled labour being used on a task that an automated email with a payment link can do in zero hours.

How to Calculate Your Club's Volunteer Labour Value

The formula is straightforward:

Number of active volunteers x average hours per week x 52 weeks x $47 = annual volunteer labour value

For a more detailed calculation, break it down by role:

| Role | Volunteers | Hours/week | Annual hours | Value at $47/hr | |---|---|---|---|---| | Committee members | 8 | 3 | 1,248 | $58,656 | | Coaches/trainers | 6 | 5 | 1,560 | $73,320 | | Event volunteers | 12 | 2 | 1,248 | $58,656 | | Canteen/bar | 4 | 3 | 624 | $29,328 | | Grounds/maintenance | 3 | 4 | 624 | $29,328 | | Total | 33 | | 5,304 | $249,288 |

If you are a state sporting body reading this, multiply those numbers by the number of affiliated clubs. A federation of 200 clubs with an average volunteer value of $150,000 per club is sitting on $30 million in volunteer labour. That number belongs in your annual report and your funding submissions.

The Data You Need

To make this calculation credible, you need to track volunteer hours. Not approximately. Not "we think our volunteers do about..." but actual recorded hours.

This is where most clubs fall down. They know who their volunteers are. They do not know how many hours each volunteer contributes. Without that data, the economic value calculation is an estimate rather than evidence.

TidyHQ tracks contact activity, event attendance, task completion, and meeting participation. When your volunteers are working within the system — checking in attendees, completing assigned tasks, recording meeting minutes — their hours are captured automatically. You do not need a separate timesheet system. You need a system where volunteer work happens digitally and the hours accumulate as a byproduct.

Sources and Further Reading

• ABS Average Weekly Earnings, Australia (Cat. 6302.0) — the source data for the hourly rate calculation
• Volunteering SA&NT Value of Volunteering calculator — vsant.org.au/value-of-volunteering
• Volunteering Queensland Replacement Cost Calculator — volunteeringqld.org.au/calculator
• Dr Lisel O'Dwyer, "The Real Value of Volunteering" (University of Adelaide, 2013) — the foundational methodology paper
• ABS Voluntary Work, Australia (Cat. 4441.0) — participation rates and hours data
• ABS Volunteers in Sport, Australia (Cat. 4440.0.55.001) — sport-specific volunteering statistics