CANBERRA, Aug. 14 (Xinhua) -- More young Australians are volunteering in their community than ever before, data released on Monday revealed.
The data, released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), said that more than half a million Australians aged between 15 and 24 years spent time doing unpaid work in the 12 months prior to the 2016 Census.
The number of young people volunteering has steadily grown in recent Censuses with fewer than 395,000 people in the same age bracket providing unpaid work in the lead up to the 2016 Census.
Additionally, 151,000 people aged 15 to 24 provided unpaid assistance to a disabled person in the two weeks before the Census, up from 120,000 in 2006.
The ABS released the data to coincide with International Youth Day on August 12 which in 2017 celebrated young people's contribution to inclusion and social justice.
The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) recorded the highest rate of youth volunteer participation with 65.3 percent while 75 percent of youth in Acton, a suburb within the ACT, did some form of volunteer work.
The ACT also had the highest rate of participation in education among young people with 65.3 percent undertaking a form of study at the time of the Census compared to the national average of 58 percent.
Data released on Monday also revealed the rate of youth volunteers among ethnic communities. Thee ABS said that 47 percent of people aged between 15 and 24 born in the West African country of Cote d'Ivoire volunteered in the 12 months leading up to the Census, the highest rate of any country of birth.
Young people from the Middle Eastern country of Oman were the second most likely to volunteer with 45 percent doing so while people born in Guinea were third most likely.
