Australian Bushfires
In summer 2019/20 Australia experienced the worst bushfires on record.
Incredible generosity from people in Australia and worldwide is enabling our grants and recovery program to support those impacted as they recover and rebuild their lives.
While our grants have now been disbursed, our recovery work continues.
What your generosity made possible
Current at 24 January 2023
$242m raised
Three years on from the 2019-20 bushfires we have disbursed or spent 98% of the funds raised. The remaining funds are allocated for long term recovery support.
Less than 5 cents in the dollar has been spent on essential administrative support costs.
During the fires
49,718 people were supported at evacuation centres and over the phone
After the fires
$237.5m has been disbursed or spent, with the rest allocated for longer term recovery.
More than 83,912 people have been assisted with recovery through 1-1 and group support, training and workshops, information and referrals.
6,134 people received financial assistance to meet urgent needs, make repairs, cover funeral or hospital costs, find a safe place to live, recover and rebuild.
Communities in 46 local government areas are covered by our bushfire recovery program.
Our recovery program
Recovery takes a long time. Red Cross is actively supporting the ongoing recovery efforts in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia following the 2019/2020 Australian Bushfires and 2021 NSW Floods. Red Cross also has two recovery operations underway in Western Australia following the 2021 Wooroloo and Gidgegannup Bushfires and Tropical Cyclone Seroja.
We are now into our third year of the 3-year 2019/2020 Australian Bushfires recovery program. As of December 2022, we have:
- Assisted 83,912 people with 1-1 support, at workshops, during community events and with access to information, assistance, and referrals.
- Trained 6,989 people from local government, community services, and community organisations through workshops in Psychological First Aid, Farm First Aid, Recovery Basics, Disaster Preparedness and Communicating in Recovery.
- Supported 3,936 community members including children and young people with disaster preparedness and resilience activities
- Distributed over 22,824 hard copy information resources to help people recover
- And provided 41,005 people psychosocial education about the impacts of disasters on wellbeing and mental health
Recovery work continues with a focus on:
- Psychosocial support, through outreach activities, community events, and follow-up home visits to grant recipients
- Capacity building, through providing information alongside recovery and preparedness training
- Community recovery, through supporting community-led recovery activities and community leaders
- Advocacy, through gathering and sharing data about how impacted communities are feeling and what further support they need
Our 2 year bushfire report
The report provides a full insight into how donations have been used.
A three-year report will be released in August and will outline all the ways in which we have allocated funds and supported communities in the three years following the 2019/2020 bushfires.
Previous reports
We don’t have the words to thank you all.
But our friend, author Thomas Keneally does.
In recognition of the humanity shown by Australians in the 2020 bushfire response and recovery.
How your donation helped
This video explains how every dollar you gave is being used.
Our gratitude is endless
We are grateful to every single person and organisation who gave, raised funds, and donated time and effort to help out.
These organisations represent our top financial donors
Apple, A2 Milk, Accent Group, Accor Hotels, AESOP Foundation, Afterpay, Air New Zealand, Amcor Limited, American Australian Association, American Express Foundation, AMP Foundation, ANZ, Ansell, Apple, Campbell Arnotts Group, Arts Centre Melbourne, Ashurst LLP, ASX Limited, Aussie Home Loans, Australia Post, Australian Football League, Australian Nursing Federation, Australian Olympic Committee, Australian Unity, AV Jennings, Bakers Delight, Bank of America, Baxter International Foundation, BHP Foundation, Bluescope Steel, BMW, Boohoo.com, BP Australia, Breville, Broadsheet, Bunnings, Bupa, Burberry, California Community Foundation, Canaccord Genuity, Capgemini, Carnival Australia, Carsales, Cartier, Catch.com.au, CBRE, Chanel Australia, Charter Hall, Chep, Chevron Australia, Chicago Mercantile Exchange, China Steel Corporation, Chubb Security, Citi Group, City of Sydney Council, CMV Foundation, Coles Group, Colgate-Palmolive, CommBank, Conoco Phillips, Costco, Country Road Group, Cricket Australia, Crown Resorts Limited, CSL Innovation, David Jones Limited, Dell Australia, Diageo, Dulux Group, eBay, EDL Group, Endeavour Energy, Ernst & Young, Essilor Australia, Estee Lauder, F45 Training, Facebook, Far East Land, Fitness & Lifestyle Group, Flexigroup, Flybuys, Ford Foundation, Foster's, Foxtel, Fulton Hogan, Gandel Philanthropy, GE Foundation, Genesis Care Ltd, GHD Sydney, Gilbert & Tobin Lawyers, GlaxoSmithKline Australia, Google, GPC Asia Pacific, GPT Group, Great Heights Charitable Fund, Gumtree, GVC Australia, H & M, H&R Block, Hewlett-Packard, Hillside Australia New Media, Hisense, Hitachi Australia, Holden, HSBC, IBM Australia, ING, Inpex, Intuit, Isaacson Davis Foundation, Itochu Australia, Janssen-Cilag, JB Hi-Fi, Jefferies LLC, JP Morgan Chase, Kathmandu, Kering, KFC, King & Wood Mallesons, Kirkland Lake Gold, Klarna, KPMG, La Trobe Financial, Laing O'Rourke, Laser Clinics Australia, Lendlease, Liberty Financial, Lion, Loan Market Group, L’Oréal Australia, Mapletree Investments, Mastercard, Maurice Blackburn, Mazda Foundation, McDonalds, Mecca Brands, Medicines Australia, Melbourne Cricket Club, Mercer, Merrimac Middle East, Michael Hill Jeweller, Michael Kors, Microsoft, Mirvac, Mitsubishi Corporation, Mortgage and Finance Industry Collective, Mortgage Choice, Motion Picture Distributors Association of Australia, MSN, MTR Corporation, Munro Footwear, NAB, NCL Australia, Newmont Mining, Next, Nippon Paint, Nomad Restaurant, Oceania Cruises & Regent Seven Seas Cruises, OneBookShelf, Oracle, Origin Energy, Packer Family Foundation, Paphitis Foundation, Paul Ramsay Foundation, PEXA, Pickles Auctions, Posco, Priceline (Australian Pharmaceutical Industries), PVH, PWC Foundation Trust, Qantas, QBE, REA Group, Real Estate Industry Collective - Beyond the Bricks, Relief Runs, Revlo, Rio Tinto, Roche, Salesforce, Samsung, Sanofi, SAP Australia, Scenic Tours, Serendipity Software, Shell, Singapore Airlines, Society of Women Leaders, Sonic Healthcare, South32, Sportsbet, Sumitomo Corporation, Suncorp, Suntory, Super Retail Group, Supercell Oy, Swisse, Sydney Airport, Tabcorp, TAL Community Foundation, TEG Dainty, Telstra, Tennis Australia, Tetra Pak, The Ernest Heine Family Foundation, The Intrepid Foundation, The KDB Group, The Stan Perron Charitable Foundation, The Trustee for JLT, Ticketmaster, TikTok, TK Maxx, Transurban, Uber, UBS Australia, UFC, Uniqlo, United States Tennis Association, UTC Australia, Vodafone Australia Foundation, Western Union Foundation, Woodside Energy, Xero, YUM! Brands, Z Zurich Foundation.
Those whose invaluable in-kind support helped keep costs low
King & Wood Mallesons, EY, Accenture, Microsoft, Deloitte, KPMG, MSJ, Land Rover and HWL Ebsworth, among so many others
Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and other partners who donated funds
American Red Cross, Austrian Red Cross, Red Cross Society of Azerbaijan, Belgian Red Cross Society, British Red Cross, Canadian Red Cross Society, Czech Red Cross, Cyprus Red Cross Society, Danish Red Cross, Estonian Red Cross, French Red Cross, German Red Cross, Hong Kong Branch of Chinese Red Cross, Icelandic Red Cross, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, Irish Red Cross Society, Italian Red Cross, Kiribati Red Cross Society, The Republic of Korea National Red Cross, Latvian Red Cross, Mongolian Red Cross Society, New Zealand Red Cross, Palau Red Cross Society, Papua New Guinea Red Cross Society, Philippine Red Cross, Polish Red Cross, Taiwan Red Cross Organisation, Singapore Red Cross Society, Spanish Red Cross, Swedish Red Cross, Swiss Red Cross, Thai Red Cross Society, The Netherlands Red Cross, Tuvalu Red Cross Society, Vanuatu Red Cross Society
Governments who supported the response
Government of Tuvalu, Government of the Republic of Korea, Government of the Republic of Estonia, Government of Mongolia
Charity donations of $2 or more to Australian Red Cross may be tax-deductible in Australia. Site protected by Google Invisible reCAPTCHA. © Australian Red Cross 2023. ABN 50 169 561 394