Western Australian volunteering organisations are struggling to attract the next generation of volunteers, despite young people wanting to lend a hand.

The number of young people volunteering fell from 29 per cent in 2019 to 16 per cent in 2025, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

The ABS found the most common reason for not volunteering was a lack of time.

Jamie Lang started volunteering at the WA Wildlife Centre in his final year of university, helping to clean enclosures and feed animals.

He negotiated with his employer to do reduced hours on Mondays in order to volunteer, making up the time later in the week.

“They were pretty flexible but even with that flexibility sometimes I just wouldn’t have the energy to go after a full day of work to put in three hours at the wildlife shelter,” Mr Lang said.

“Unfortunately, volunteering is almost a ‘nice to have’, it’s a secondary kind of endeavour.”

Mr Lang said volunteering gave him a sense of community and a meaningful way to spend time with like-minded individuals who were also passionate about wildlife conservation.

He suggested greater flexibility in volunteering rostering was needed, as traditional models no longer suited many working people.

He also said volunteer organisations needed make their application process easier and workplaces should encourage employees to volunteer as part of skill-building.

Elizabeth Austin visits people in hospital with the Red Cross and said attracting younger volunteers had been challenging recently.

“We did have a good number of people but sadly we grew older and nobody came to replace us,” she said.

“We have over the years had quite a lot of young people in the hospital with us, talking with patients and giving them magazines to read, but lately we haven’t had any at all.”

Mrs Austin said volunteering offered a sense of community and connection that could help fight isolation, “otherwise some people don’t speak to anyone at all.”

The United Nations is marking 2026 as the Year of the Volunteer, recognising volunteering as a vital force for sustainable development and community wellbeing.