Millennials are no misers, unlike the majority of wealthy Australians who have come before them.

Melbourne-based private banker James Ostroburski, 26, is a founding member of Philanthropy Australia’s The New Generation of Giving, a network of under-40-year-olds that provides advice and opportunities for giving.

He firmly believes that young Australians are more generous, both financially and with their time.

“There is undoubtedly a wave of savvy young Australians coming up through their 20s and 30s who are looking to take a more active role in the community. They are giving in a way that we haven’t seen from perhaps older generations.”

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Mr Ostroburski, who is also a benefactor to the arts in Melbourne, was introduced to philanthropy when his grandmother died two and half years ago, bequeathing him a legacy in her will.

He now donates 17 per cent of his own (pre-tax) annual income, which is more than his family members were giving at his age.

“Yes, this would definitely give the elders in my family a run for their money,” he says.

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A change in the nation’s giving habits, led by the younger generation, seems well overdue, with CEO of Philanthropy Australia Louise Walsh confirming that the country’s wealthy are not giving enough by international standards.

The US topped The World Giving Index last year, while Australia lagged behind in seventh place, behind New Zealand, Ireland and the UK.

“If you’re looking at the wealthy end, there’s no question: We don’t perform as strongly as we could, particularly compared to North America, and particularly the US,” Ms Walsh says.

“We do donate quite well when it comes to natural disasters. We have a very high volunteering rate. But, typically, the more people earn, they’re not as philanthropic as what they could be or should be.”

Andrew Forrest is one of the most generous Australians.

Reluctant givers

Thirty-eight per cent of Australians who earn more than $1 million a year do not claim a tax-deductible donation, according to the latest ATO data for 2011-12 provided to The New Daily. 

“For my money, that’s way too high,” Ms Walsh says.

If you assume that those who claim, claim all their giving, and that those who don’t claim give nothing, average giving per person is much less than Mr Ostroburski’s 17 per cent.

Those in the $500,000 to $1 million income range give roughly $3,500 per financial year (averaged across all lodged tax returns in 2011-12 and using the above presumption). Those with more than $1 million in taxable income give an average of approximately $30,600 per person, based on the same data.

Using these figures, wealthy Australians might be giving, at best, between three and four per cent of their annual income on average.

Chairman of The Petre Foundation Daniel Petre says that of those billionaires on the latest BRW Rich List, most would be giving only slightly more than this average.

Of [the BRW] list of our most wealthy, you’d be hard pressed, I’m fairly sure, to find any who have allocated north of five or even 10 per cent of their wealth to philanthropy.

“Of that list of our most wealthy, you’d be hard pressed, I’m fairly sure, to find any who have allocated north of five or even 10 per cent of their wealth to philanthropy,” Mr Petre says.

“You see so-and-so allocate $10 million and you go ‘fantastic’, but hang on a second, the guy’s worth $7 billion or something. That’s nothing. He spends more than that on jet fuel a year.”

Research commissioned by the Petre Foundation from 2004 and 2008 found that the average wealthy American allocated about 15 per cent of their wealth to philanthropy, compared to less than one per cent for the average wealthy Australian.

According to Mr Petre, the benchmark for true philanthropy is giving away half of your wealth. He calculates that only three Australian billionaires have pledged to do so or have actually achieved this goal. They are Andrew Forrest, Paul Ramsey (on his death), and John Kinghorn.

For his part, Mr Petre says wealthy Australians need to be held more accountable.

“In America, if you are wealthy and don’t give, you’re seen as a Pariah, but not so in Australia. You’re not seen as having to give if you’re wealthy, which is a bit unfortunate,” Mr Petre says.