She Gives: Women Shaping the Future of Philanthropy in Australia
Australian women are emerging as a defining force in the next era of philanthropy, with new national research highlighting the need for the sector to evolve with women’s growing economic influence and unlock their potential to address some of the country’s most pressing challenges.
Research conducted by the Centre for Social Impact UWA reveals women already shape much of Australia’s charitable decision-making and are set to control the majority of the nation’s $5.4 trillion wealth transfer, significantly expanding their influence over where money flows in the decades ahead.
While philanthropy is often associated with high-profile male benefactors and large-scale donations, the research finds the sector now has a defining opportunity to modernise its pathways — and its culture — to unlock women’s giving at scale, becoming more accessible, collaborative and aligned with how women choose to engage.
She Gives: Growing Women’s Giving in Australia
Drawing on insights from more than 2,000 women across the country, the report is the largest mixed-methods study of women’s giving ever conducted nationally and the second-largest Australian study of giving overall.
According to the report, the combination of existing decision-making power and rapidly growing economic influence represents one of the most significant — and underutilised — levers to strengthen Australia’s culture of giving at a time of rising community need and increasing pressure on government spending.
Some key findings
- Women are highly influential in philanthropic giving, with more than 60% of women who live with a partner saying they always or usually make household giving decisions.
- More than 80% of women in philanthropic networks and 64% of women nationally say they want to give more. Financial security and feeling overwhelmed by the number of requests featured in top barriers to giving.
- Women’s top reasons for giving include: they care about the cause, they want to make a difference, they trust the organisation or they want to give back. Societal expectations and tax incentives featured amongst the lowest motivations for giving.
- While nearly half of women in philanthropic networks engage in structured giving including foundations, trusts or collective giving, just 6% of women in the broader national sample do so.
- Women want to have greater knowledge and confidence; financial literacy, role modelling and storytelling were identified as enablers.
The report suggests expanding awareness of and access to structured giving represents a significant opportunity to strengthen confidence, strategy and long-term impact.
3 priorities to grow women’s giving at scale
- Build the capacity of the ecosystem to support women’s philanthropic ambitions, including tailored capability development for financial advisers to better support women’s giving ambitions and clearer, more accessible pathways into structured giving.
- Strengthen collective and community-based models, recognising that many women prefer to give collaboratively and that shared approaches can mobilise greater impact.
- Recognise women’s crucial role in giving, including greater recognition and visibility in national honours and media coverage to ensure women’s contributions are accurately reflected in Australia’s public narrative.
Together, the report and campaign lay the foundation for a new chapter in Australian philanthropy in which women’s leadership, influence and generosity are fully recognised and supported to drive lasting social change.