Disaster Response and Recovery

The Australian Red Cross Disaster Response and Recovery fund is set up year-round to support Australians before, during and after a disaster.

From the storms and catastrophic fire conditions in Victoria to flooding in Queensland, your donation to the Disaster Response and Recovery Fund means Red Cross can be there to help people during disasters and other emergencies throughout Australia.

Right now

Red Cross teams are on the ground supporting people impacted by disasters.

  • We continue to work in evacuation and recovery centres across the country.
  • Our volunteers are providing psychosocial support to people in evacuation centres and via personal support, information, and referrals in community recovery hubs.
  • We are working hard to register and reunite loved ones through our Register.Find.Reunite service.
  • We have commenced planning for the long and challenging recovery journey that many people are facing.

Last year, someone in Australia needed our help every 90 seconds.

Here’s what our donors made possible:

324,000+

people supported before, during and after disasters

1,639

staff helped and supported people across 33 emergency activations

4 million+

people accessed information from emergency preparedness campaigns

You have the power to make a difference

$25

can provide a wellbeing check for someone who’s isolated or been through an emergency

$50

can teach a child to prepare their own emergency kit with special and useful items

$150

can help us deliver a door-to-door support service, checking on residents in the aftermath of an emergency

$250

can provide specialised training for a Red Cross team to run an evacuation centre when an emergency strikes

About the Disaster Response and Recovery Fund

Donations to the Disaster Response and Recovery fund power the work of Red Cross emergency teams. This can include:

  • Training and equipping our emergency response teams and volunteers
  • Supporting our work to get communities prepared for disasters
  • Powering our response and recovery work when disasters strike

Our emergency teams are experts in their field. Many of them have lived through emergencies themselves. With your support, we can continue to make sure that no one has to face a disaster alone.

Donations above $2 are tax-deductible in Australia. You will receive a receipt in your name in an email when you donate online.
Australian Red Cross will not deduct more than 10 per cent of money raised to cover essential support costs such as collecting and administrating donations, IT costs and overheads.
In the unlikely event that funds raised exceed the cost of our emergency services work, the excess will be used to support our everyday work with other vulnerable people in Australia.
Thousands of generous people gave in response to the 2019/2020 bushfires. Perhaps you were one of them and already know how grateful we are. Donations to the Disaster Response and Recovery fund before July 2019 have been supporting our response to the Australian Bushfires 2019/20. They are helping people affected by those particular fires: as grants that help them cope with financial hardship, repair their homes and re-establish a safe place to live, and through longer-term recovery programs in each community. See your generosity in action.
All the money raised through the Qld and NSW Floods Appeal and Australia Unites Telethon has been directed to supporting the people and communities impacted by that disaster, as it was intended for. This includes on the ground support in evacuation and recovery centres, cash assistance to over 66,000 households, and our three-year recovery program. See your generosity in action.

Red Cross will use the personal information you have provided for the primary purpose of processing your donation. If you agree to receive marketing materials from us about our work, we may also use this information to contact you. You can opt out or request amendments to the personal information at any time by emailing contactus@redcross.org.au or calling 1800 RED CROSS (733 276). We take your privacy seriously; you can refer to our privacy policy for more information.

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 2024. ABN 50 169 561 394