Contribution and experience of volunteers

Sydney WorldPride volunteers contributed $2.4 million in foregone wages as a result of time spent participating in the festival.

Volunteer labour was critical to the output of Sydney WorldPride and ensured the host organisations’ ability to deliver quality experiences for attendees and participants. A survey of Sydney WorldPride volunteers provided estimates of volunteer hours throughout the festival. Deloitte Access Economics has converted this data to a measure of the value of volunteer time by assigning a (foregone) wage rate to the total number of hours worked by volunteers.

Economic value of volunteer hours

15.4 Average hours volunteered per Sydney WorldPride volunteer

A total of around 3,450 volunteers each contributed an average of 15.4 hours of personal time to support Sydney WorldPride events, from the Parade to the Human Rights Conference. This equates to a value of $2.4 million based on a foregone wage or replacement cost method of valuing volunteer time.

Chart 12: Attending Sydney WorldPride increased my understanding of issues faced by LGBTQIA+ people

Chart 13: After attending WorldPride, I am more likely to use peoples’ preferred pronouns

$2.4m Economic value of volunteer time Volunteers 56% 40% All respondents

The demographic profile of volunteers was broadly similar to the full respondent group. As such, the adjacent charts focus on the unique experience of volunteers at Sydney WorldPride.

Volunteers Source: Attendee survey, All (3,195), volunteers (n=115) Source: Attendee survey, All (3,195), volunteers

(n=115) volunteers (n=101)