Australia’s charities are taking a hit as rising expenses and cost-of-living pressures impact their bottom line.
New data from the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC) shows that charity revenue was up 7.5 percent in 2024.
However, this was more than offset by an 8.6 percent increase in costs.
Commissioner Sue Woodward said information statements from 53,641 charities showed these organisations generated $239 billion in revenue and expenses were $231 billion.
“Demand for support is rising as more people feel the squeeze,” Ms Woodward said.
“Charities are responding by hiring more staff where they can but at the same time, they’re being hit with higher costs for wages, insurance and utilities. That’s a tough combination for many charities.”
Charities employ 1.6 million staff, or 11 percent of Australia’s workforce but only 53 percent of charities have any paid staff.
Extra-large charities, with annual revenue of $100 million or more, make up just 0.6 percent of the sector but generate 57 percent of total sector revenue and receive around 21 percent of donations and bequests.
“By comparison, 60 percent of all charities were small or extra small, with less than $500,000 in annual revenue,” the report said.
“Together, they generated just 1.4 percent of total sector revenue, received less than nine percent of all donations and bequests, and held less than five percent of sector assets.”
During the 2024 reporting period, donations and bequests reached $14.8 billion.
Government funding was the largest revenue source for charities at $118 billion, while revenue from goods and services was $83 billion.
Registered charities reported that they engaged 3.9 million volunteers – the highest registered charity volunteer count ever reported to the ACNC. There were 2.5 volunteers reported for every employee.
“It is remarkable that we have seen this reliance on volunteers by around half of all charities in almost every edition of the Australian Charities Report, since we published the first report in 2014,” Ms Woodward said.
“Our data shows yet again that the sector is a major economic force – a contribution in addition to the sector’s vital social role as the connective tissue for communities across Australia and abroad.”
The full ACNC report is here.
