Estimating the Voluntary Contribution of Women in Australian Agricultural and Regional Communities

Abstract

The invaluable contribution that women collectively provide is generally undervalued and underestimated. This paper tries to improve the current understanding of the contribution that women living in Australian rural and regional communities make, with the specific focus being on providing estimates of the voluntary and unpaid community work they complete. This contemporary analysis therefore involved the examination of women's contributions to unpaid community work and voluntary activities. Measures of the contribution of women in terms of their voluntary and unpaid community work are calculated using values derived from specially constructed models. The findings presented are thus largely based on current research, with one of the main goals of the exercise being to provide more accurate and comprehensive information regarding the voluntary and unpaid contribution of women to agricultural and regional communities, in order to aid improved future policy development.