Australian bushfire donations: How to give money to help those affected

Tom Herbert3 January 2020

Australia's devastating bushfire crisis shows no signs of abating as the disaster continue to rage across the country.

Eighteen people have been killed since September with vast swathes of Australia ravaged by the fires, while more than 1,300 homes have been destroyed.

Thousands of people have been forced to evacuate their homes and a seven-day state of emergency has been declared by New South Wales premier Gladys Berejiklian ahead of the weekend when conditions are expected to worsen.

As the disaster shows no signs of stopping, many are wondering how they can help those firefighters on the front line. Here's how you can help towards the recovery effort.

Australian wildfires on New Year's Eve

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Donations

You can donate to the NSW Rural Fire Service directly, either to the service as a whole or to specific brigades.

Cheques, credit cards and bank transfers are all accepted, and you can donate money here.

You can donate both money and items to Queensland Fire and Rescue, to help communities with exactly what they need. You can follow the link to their website here.

The Country Fire Service in South Australia accepts donations and bequests. To donate, head here. To leave a bequest, head here.

To support firefighters in Victoria, you can give money to the Country Fire Association by following this link here.

Millions of animals have died in the fires. If you want to leave money to help wildlife, the NSW Wildlife Information, Rescue and Education Service is accepting donations here.

The Port Macquarie Koala Hospital is also accepting money, which you can donate here.

Helping towards the recovery effort

The Salvation Army, the Australian Red Cross and the St Vincent de Paul Society have all launched disaster appeals and are accepting donations of money or goods.

However, it's always worth checking what sort of items a charity requires before donating in kind, and it is usually better to give money instead.

To donate to the Salvation Army, you can head here. The Red Cross can be reached here while the St Vincent Society is found here.

Other charities helping towards the recovery effort include Foodbank, Givit, Bendigo Bank Bushfire Disaster Appeal and Gippsland Emergency Relief Fund.

A GoFundMe page has been set up for communities in Victoria, which can be found here and here.

Volunteering

If you live in Australia, volunteering your time to help charities at centres can be a big help but remember to check with the charity fist.

A list of evacuation centres can be found here.

You can also register as an emergency firefighter in Queensland. Their number is 1800 994 100.

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