External Resource: Australian Charities Report 12th Edition

The Australian Charities Report (12th edition) presents findings based on information submitted in February 2026 to the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC) in the Annual Information Statements of 53,641 charities for the 2024 reporting period.

The Australian Charities Report’s (the report) data shows that in addition to the sector’s indispensable social role and contribution, it is a major economic force.

The Snapshot section presents infographics summarising the data from the two main sections of the report.

Section 1 provides an overall analysis of data at a broad charity sector level. The report uses the Classification System of Australian Social Sector Initiatives and Entities (CLASSIE) to categorise charities based on the programs or activities they engage in.

The report identifies that at sector level:

• The three most common categories are Religion and faith-based spirituality (19.8 per cent), Human Services (15.6 per cent) and Education (15 per cent).
• Charities have 2.5 volunteers for every employee. More than half of all charities, (53 per cent), operate with no paid staff, relying entirely on their volunteers.
• The most common beneficiaries are Adults – aged 25 to under 65 (8.1 per cent), Youth – aged 15 to under 25 (7.8 per cent). These have remained the same as in the previous year. Adults aged 65 and over increased to 6.9 per cent and entered the top three. Families now sits fourth, 0.1 per cent behind Adults – aged over 65

Section 2 of the report presents a more detailed analysis of data focused on charity size. The analysis highlights the financial capacity charities have across the key measures. The report analysis identifies:

• The report defines six charity sizes based on revenue, illustrating the diversity in the charity sector. The size of 60 per cent of all charities was between extra small ($50,000) and small ($500,000).
• Within each category, the report provides a number of subtypes to reflect a charity’s purpose. A charity can have multiple subtypes or can choose to not have any.
• Charities employed 1.6 million staff, or 11 per cent of Australia’s workforce, and reported that they engaged 3.9 million volunteers. This is the highest registered charity volunteer count ever reported to the ACNC.
• Charities generated $239 billion in revenue, a significant 7.5 per cent increase that surpassed growth in the wider economy. The largest revenue source was from government, including grants ($118 billion), while revenue from goods and services was $83 billion.
• Total sector expenses outpaced this revenue growth and rose by 8.6 per cent to $231 billion. The larger total expenses bill reflects a combination of factors including:
• More people turned to charities for support as they struggled with cost-of-living pressures. Where they could, charities employed more staff to meet the demand.
• Basic operating costs for charities rose, including wages, insurance and utilities.
• The 60 per cent of smaller charities generate just 1.4 per cent of total sector revenue, operate with significantly fewer financial resources – not only in revenue, but also in the share of donations and bequests they attract (8.6 per cent) and hold less than 5 per cent of sector assets. These larger total expenses bill is a difficult combination for many charities.

The ACNC interactive Charity Data Explorer Australian Charities Report 12th edition: Charity Data Explorer | ACNC, included in the report, allows the public to conduct searches using 2024 Annual Information Statement data.

Read the report here Australian Charities Report – 12th Edition | ACNC