The Australian Charities and Not-for-Profits Commission (ACNC) reports that charity revenue grew by 6.4 per cent in 2018, increasing to $155.4 billion.
The ACNC’s latest Australian Charities Report, based on data from 48,000 charities, found the sector employed 10 per cent of Australians and benefitted from the services of 3.7 million volunteers.
ACNC Commissioner Gary Johns said the data showed the charity sector was in a strong position leading into this year’s COVID-19 crisis.
“Many charities had reserves and investments as well as diversified sources of revenue to support their financial viability,” Dr Johns said.
“Overall, only 6.8 per cent of charity revenue came from donations, the majority (47 per cent) came from Government, including grants, followed by revenue from providing goods and services (34 per cent).”
He said the data showed there was a great variation across charity types.
“Public benevolent institutions that help relieve poverty receive a large percentage of their income from Government, more than 60 per cent, while animal welfare charities receive a small amount of their revenue from Government, just over three per cent, but are more reliant on donations, which account for nearly 50 per cent of their revenue,” Dr Johns said.
“Volunteers are the backbone of charities. It is heartening to see volunteer numbers continue to increase. Volunteers rose from 3.3 million in 2017 to 3.7 million in 2018, a 12 per cent increase. Half of all charities operate without any paid staff.”
The Commission’s latest Australian Charities Report can be accessed at this PS News link.
