A new study has revealed how many acts of kindness Australians are performing each week, and found that we are missing out on about two billion each year.

The Helga’s Kindness Index study, developed by McCrindle, found Australians are performing an average of 16 acts of kindness per week.

Social researcher Mark McCrindle said 3500 people were surveyed for the study .

“We found that there are three core attributes that lead to kindness,” he said.

“The first is empathy, just being able to relate to people, the second is altruism, which is really just generosity without expecting something back in return, and third is reflection, if we are a self aware person and can control our emotions that is going to mean less unkind acts.”

“The average Australian performs at least two of these acts of kindness every day.”

The study found two thirds of people surveyed face barriers to being kind, including feeling out of their comfort zone and not knowing how the act of kindness will be perceived.

Press PLAY to hear more about the study