Older people are the biggest donors to charities relating to community service, children, health and disability, the latest NAB Charitable Giving Index shows.
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The index shows the growth in giving has slowed across the board as people allocate less of their household spending to non-essentials.
Giving to charity grew by just 2 per cent over the year to February 2015, down from 10 per cent at the same time last year.
However while growth was trending down across most age groups, over-65s were the exception to the rule.
The biggest slow-down was in the 45-54 age group, where growth slowed from 8.9 per cent last year to just 0.4 per cent as middle aged Australians reported growing levels of consumer anxiety.
In contrast, giving by over-65s grew by 6.7 per cent over the year.
Regional giving outpaces that in metropolitan areas, and humanitarian charities continue to attract the largest share of donations, with 35 per cent of the total.
Medical research and services received the smallest market share at 6 per cent, with animals and the environment and cancer charities also at the lowest end of the scale at 8 per cent and 9 per cent, respectively.
