Brisbane 2032 volunteers a billion-dollar opportunity

World Expo volunteers. | Newsreel
The economic legacy of volunteers at major events, like World Expo 88, in Brisbane, is undervalued. | Photo: Courtesy of Queensland State Archives.

The volunteering effort needed to deliver the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games has the potential to contribute to a $70 billion legacy boost to the Australian economy, with the bulk of the benefit in South-East Queensland.

New modelling by Deloitte Access Economics, revealed at a Committee for Brisbane event today, shows the Games have the potential to boost long-term economic benefit if reforms needed to deliver the event are embedded long-term.

Speaking at the event, Deloitte Access Economics Lead Partner Pradeep Philip said leveraging increased interest in volunteering could stimulate more than $2 billion in activity, as part of an overall national total benefit of $70.7 billion.

Dr Philip said the figure was a result of analysis which went beyond the direct economic benefit of the Games, which reports put at around $17 billion.

“We’ve embarked on a different study, one which assumes this economic impact and asks the question, what economic future could we create if we embedded, through economic reforms, some of the best impacts of hosting this event for the long run?”

He said volunteering was a prime example, where there was expected to be a need for 50,000 community-minded people to help deliver the Games.

“The economic benefits (of volunteering) aren’t well captured in a lot of economic analysis, (but) they are real economic benefits, particularly as people scale up.”

The analysis found that higher labour productivity and additional output from ongoing volunteering could stimulate an additional $2.4 billion in overall economic activity.

It found that to maximise economic benefit, recruitment for Games volunteers should focus on first-time volunteers, “enhancing job productivity for those already employed and creating new opportunities for those outside the workforce”.

Dr Philip said the volunteering component was only one part of the economic potential on offer with infrastructure and brand benefits there for the taking, the majority of which will land in South-East Queensland.

He said in the two decades after the Games there was a potential for Queensland’s economy to be boosted by almost $60 billion, with close to $40 billion occurring in the south-east corner.

“We find in our modelling that embedded reforms to lift the volunteering effort and the participation of people in physical activity, of harnessing the network benefits of infrastructure, and of driving our brand recognition further can generate value of $39.5 billion in South-East Queensland.”

Download the full report: Going for gold. The economic opportunity for the taking