Charities from Victoria received more than $26.3 billion in income according to a new report from the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC).

The report found that Victorian charities employ over 271 600 people, and around 473 000 people from the state volunteer.

These findings were published in the Australian Charities Report 2014 produced by the ACNC.

The report details independent analysis undertaken by academics at the Centre for Social Impact and the Social Policy Research Centre at the University of New South Wales (UNSW).

The findings were derived from the 2014 Annual Information Statements registered charities submitted to the ACNC, which for the first time included financial information.

As such, the report constitutes a census of charities in Australia.

ACNC Commissioner Susan Pascoe AM said the report was evidence of the immense contribution of Victoria’s charities.

“Victorian charities are not only economically significant, but also contribute greatly to the community,” Ms Pascoe said.

“Victorian charities represent nearly 26%, or over a quarter, of the combined income of the Australian charity sector.

“They also employ around a quarter of charity sector’s workforce.”

Ms Pascoe said Victorian charities have other fascinating and unique characteristics.

“Like other states, religious charities are the most common, making up 25% of the state’s charities.

“Interestingly, Victoria has one of the highest proportions of charities that list grant-making as one of their main activities.

In Victoria, the University of Melbourne is the largest charity by income, followed by Monash University.

Ms Pascoe encouraged those interested to explore the data at australiancharities.acnc.gov.au.

“It’s easy to filter the information to get a breakdown according to different variables like state, size, location and main activity,” Ms Pascoe said.

“You can look at those charities that work in a particular area like education and research, or even charities of a particular size.”

The report will also assist charities to compare themselves against similar organisations, and to make evidence-based policy, program and planning decisions.