You are here: HomeAbout UsOur Story › An International Movement

An international movement

As an international movement organised around Christian principles, The Salvation Army is a mobilised force fighting injustice and inequality around the world without discrimination.

Today, The Salvation Army ministers in 133 countries around the world through a wide variety of spiritual and humanitarian programs ranging from day-care centres for children to nursing homes for the aged; programs to assist those with dependency issues, the homeless, and those without advocacy. More than 14 million people around the world are helped every year by The Salvation Army.

From country to country, The Salvation Army is primarily driven by local people working passionately to make a difference. Empowering and equipping people to impact their own community has always been a key focus of The Salvation Army, allowing the richness of true international partnership and collaboration while holding tightly to the importance of local community impact.

International statistics

These statistics provide an indication of the scope of The Salvation Army's international work.

The Salvation Army's work in various countries is tailored to the social and economic needs of local communities. This means the activities of The Salvation Army can be vastly different from country to country. For example, The Salvation Army runs 52 hospitals internationally, but does not administer any in Australia.

Number of corps (churches) 14,527
Number of officers 28,053
Number of employees 111,859
Soldiers 1,182,100
Adherent members 175,811
Junior soldiers 411,327
Community development programmes 1,626 (beneficiaries: 634,053)
Homeless hostels 461 (capacity: 28,780)
Residential addiction dependency programmes 216 (capacity: 16,299)
Homes for elderly persons 180 (capacity: 12,857)
Mother and baby homes 36 (capacity: 908)
Refuges 96 (capacity: 2,210)
Community day care centres 937
Non-residential addiction rehabilitation centres 124
Services to the armed forces 27 chaplains, 11 mobile units
Disaster rehabilitation schemes 43
Prisoners visited 247,794
General hospitals 29
Maternity hospitals 32
Specialist hospitals 62

Source: The Salvation Army International 2018 Year Book, as at 1 January 2017

  • The Facebook logo
  • The X logo
  • The Youtube logo
  • The Instagram logo
  • The LinkedIn logo

The Salvation Army Australia acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the land on which we meet and work and pay our respect to Elders past, present and future.

We value and include people of all cultures, languages, abilities, sexual orientations, gender identities, gender expressions and intersex status. We are committed to providing programs that are fully inclusive. We are committed to the safety and wellbeing of people of all ages, particularly children.

Five Diversity and Inclusion logos

The Salvation Army is an international movement. Our mission is to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and to meet human needs in his name with love and without discrimination.

uat.salvos.org.au

13 SALVOS (13 72 58)

Gifts of $2 or more to the social work of The Salvation Army in Australia are tax deductible.Details and ABNs

Subscribe to our mailing list
Hope where it's needed most

Top