Before 2010, there was a conceptual and policy shift in youth volunteering but with the adoption of the National Volunteer Strategy 2012-2020 (Nemzeti Önkéntes Stratégia 2012-2020), due to the greater emphasis on the socialisation of young people through compulsory school community service for secondary school students, volunteering in Hungary became largely interwoven with the so-called 'civil sector'. (For more information, see sub-chapters 2.1 General context and 2.4 Youth Volunteering at national level).

At that time, volunteering was administered by the since defunct Ministry of Human Capacities, within the Deputy State Secretariat for Youth Policy and Equal Opportunities. As of the election in 2022, the Deputy State Secretariat for Young People in the Ministry of Culture and Innovation (Kulturális és Innovációs Minisztérium) took over the tasks related to youth, including volunteering. The most important Government actor in funding volunteering is the National Cooperation Fund (Nemzeti Együttműködési Alap).

Definitions of volunteering is first defined in the 2005 act on voluntary activities and the National Volunteer Strategy (see sub-chapter 2.1 General context). There is no strategy or law regarding youth volunteering, also, the National Volunteer Strategy 2012-2020 does not define explicit goals to achieve in relation with young people, yet they are mentioned several times among the target groups. (For more information, see sub-chapter 2.3 National strategy on Youth Volunteering).

In higher education, the legislation opens up the possibility to include voluntary activities in one's studies. (For more information, see sub-chapter 2.9 Skills recognition).