Running from the 20th until the 26th of May 2024, National Volunteer Week recognises the vital role that volunteers play in our community, celebrates the impact they have, and encourages individuals to begin volunteering if they aren’t already. This year, the theme ‘Something for Everyone’ highlights the diverse talents and passions that people bring to volunteering and the different drivers that people have.

While volunteering is crucial across many industries, community sport in Australia is uniquely reliant on the time and goodwill of volunteers. Without their dedication, many sporting clubs would cease to exist, and some of our nation’s greatest athletes might never have achieved their sporting success. Beyond community sport, volunteers are essential for the smooth running of major sporting events such as National and World Championships/Cups, the Commonwealth Games, and even the Olympics and Paralympics.

To put into perspective just how vital volunteering in sport is in Australia, Clearinghouse for Sport reports that “in 2022, an estimated 3.4 million Australians participated in non-playing roles in the sport and active recreation sector at least once. Over 90% of these participants (3.1 million) were volunteers.” For many clubs, volunteers make up their coaches, referees and umpires, administrators, board and committee members, and fill many other roles.

Unfortunately, volunteering is on the decline, placing a strain on our community clubs and putting them at risk of closure. Last year, our Your Sport Your Say, Clubs Under Pressure Report revealed that:

• 63% of clubs listed “not having enough volunteers” as their main challenge.
• 2 in 3 clubs listed administration load as their 2nd biggest challenge, after a lack of volunteers.
• In the 12 months prior to the report, 1 in 4 clubs had experienced a decline in volunteers.
• Clubs reported a 17% decrease in volunteers aged 35-54 years old, highlighting that parents were volunteering less.