Despite a challenging 2022, community managers are reporting stable salaries, recovering budgets and a greater sense of optimism than recent years, according to the 2022 ACM State of Community Management Report.

Community managers feel more understood and valued than ever, and a growing number are optimistic about the profession.

The sixth annual ACM State of Community Management Survey examines the who, what, why and how of online communities in Australia, and the practice of community management as a profession. ACM has conducted the research annually since 2015, to help benchmark community management practice, and the insights are regularly used by community and digital professionals, aspiring community managers, employers looking to invest in community, researchers, policy-makers and more.

The 2022 SOCM Report is supported by Higher Logic and Quiip, who help make this important work possible.

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Here are some of the key findings for 2022:

• NFP/Social Cause, Media and Government are the leading sectors hosting online communities in Australia

• The three top industry sectors investing in online communities are Health, Government and Technology

• Knowledge building or sharing is the leading purpose for online communities 

• Online community managers are 72% female

• 36% of community managers are over 40

• 73% of community professionals are tertiary qualified

• 47% of community managers been working in community for at least five years 

• Victoria is the centre of the field professionally

• The average salary for community professionals is $100,000 - $130,000 pa

• 61% of community managers work in-house for a single organisation, while only 2% work in an agency setting.

• Only 1 in 3 community managers work to a documented strategy 

• 35% of Australian communities have been active for five years or more

• 46% of online community practitioners say their role is understood and valued

• 93% of community managers invest in further education 

• 78% % of community managers conduct post-moderation and reactive moderation in their communities

• 25% of community managers deal with misinformation as a key moderation issue

• 73% of community practitioners work outside a traditional office

The full report contains detailled information on:

• Demographic data

• Salary benchmarking data

• Which platforms community managers are using

• The industries investing the most in online communities

• The primary business case for online communities in Australia

• How much revenue online communities generate for Australian organisations

• Key challenges and risks for online community managers in Australia; and more.