Put to the Test During this decade Australian Red Cross disaster preparedness would be put to the test. On Christmas Eve 1974 Darwin was flattened by Cyclone Tracy. Within hours a military plane took a 20-member Red Cross team to Darwin where they would help with treatment and care of the wounded and ill, escort and transport med-evacuees to the airport, staff a highway roadblock to record the movement of the population, and of course, manage the tracing and enquiry operation for those both leaving and staying in the city. On January 18 1977 the Granville train disaster claimed 83 lives. Red Cross supplied blood and blood products in response and the public responded in their droves to this disaster. At its peak 3000 people lined up outside Blood Service HQ in Sydney to donate their bit. The Red Cross Welfare Service joined with other relief organisations to offer counselling and material help. There would be nine widows directly assisted by donations raised, with material help and counselling.

Regional Development Regional centres also began to open across the State. This was an important step in recognising that local Red Cross activities needed a base closer than Sydney. It made Red Cross and the services it offered more visible to thousands hundreds of thousands of people across the state. Gosford on the NSW Central Coast was the first office opened. Their primary activities were beauty care, the handcraft service, day care, first aid, medical loans and fundraising Newcastle opened up next, then Albury Wodonga in a cooperative move with the Victorian Division of Red Cross. .