Humanitarian Services – Where the money was spent
Expenditure for the Australian Red Cross Society was $886.952 million, including $641.509 million (72.3%) expended by the Blood Service. Expenditure within Humanitarian Services decreased by 14.1% to $245.443 million this financial year. The percentage of Humanitarian Services expenditure for Australian programs is 47.0%, while expenditure on International programs is 9.6%. Fundraising costs for Humanitarian Services operating division comprise 5.3% of total expenditure. This includes all expenditure associated with fundraising for our services, administration of emergency appeals and managing pro bono work and non-cash gifts (which are not recognised in the financial accounts).
Administration costs for Humanitarian Services of Red Cross accounted for 15.1% of total expenditure. These costs include information technology, finance, human resources and occupancy expenses, and are critical to delivering our services effectively. This is in addition to costs recovered which form part of our program delivery.
Our humanitarian work in Australia and overseas (including emergency appeals)
$157.051 million was spent providing humanitarian services in Australia and overseas. Over 88.8% of expenditure was on everyday work with individuals and communities including supporting communities to prepare for emergencies. The remaining expenditure was spent on emergency response in Australia and overseas. The majority of non-emergency response spending ($115.355 million) was for domestic services in Australia, while $24.075 million was spent on everyday work overseas in the Asia-Pacific region. In our emergency appeal work $6.122 million was spent helping people impacted by disasters overseas such as the Indonesia Earthquakes Tsunamis and the humanitarian challenges in Myanmar. $11.499 million was spent providing relief to communities affected by drought in Australia. The proportion of funds spent in emergencies locally versus internationally varies from year to year, depending on the location, need and severity of disasters.
Humanitarian program spend
$157.051 million was incurred in providing programs, an 11.0% reduction from FY2018. This reduced program expenditure was largely attributable to a $24.334 million decrease in our migration support programs. Despite a reduction in government funding, we are still committed to providing migration support programs and spent $22.701m in FY2019.
Social inclusion services account for largest share of expenditure ($41.391 million), representing our work with people experiencing exclusion from mainstream society due to age, disability, mental health concerns, involvement with the justice system, or other factors. Community based programs rank No.2 with $32.853 million expenditure, comprising our work with ten specific communities experiencing entrenched disadvantage. International Aid and Development ranked No.3 with $23.050 million in expenditure, comprising our work to support key partner countries in the Asia-Pacific region.