Flood tour: Prime Minister Scott Morrison (left) and Federal Emergency Services Minister Bridget McKenzie (right) inspect flood damage in the suburb of Milton in Brisbane on March 10.
Photo by
Darren England (AAP)
Donating to those in need can be a minefield — something Australians learnt the hard way in the 2019-20 bushfires.
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Those wishing to help victims of the Queensland and NSW flood emergency are being instructed to donate via www.givit.org.au
Givit has partnered with the Queensland and NSW governments as the official manager of donated goods, funds and volunteers.
Smaller charities and community groups apply for the specific help they need through Givit and the group coordinates the delivery.
Need For Feed and BlazeAid are also tried-and-true charities that help farmers recover from disaster events.
Need For Feed has already done a 13-truck hay run into Lismore, followed by another six loads and a 20-truck convoy on March 12 and 13.
Need For Feed says it will continue to truck hay and fodder into affected areas “until there is no need”.
Flow-in muscle: Australian Army soldiers remove debris from Byangum Bridge in northern NSW as part of Operation Flood Assist 2022.
Photo by
JTF 629
Donations made by the public to The Salvation Army’s Flood Appeal are used directly to support flood victims, according to the Salvation Army.
Some of this money will be used immediately for services, such as free meals, but Salvation Army PR secretary Bruce Harmer said donations were often used for years to come in long-term recovery strategies, such as recovery grants to help victims rebuild.
Australian Red Cross has also pledged all funds raised in its telethon on March 12 will go towards flood victims in the form of cash grants.
The cash grants will take two forms: bereavement grants to support senior next-of-kin of those who died and relief grants to help with basic food, clothing and personal item needs.
Clean-up: An Australian Army soldier from 2nd/14th Light Horse Regiment (Queensland Mounted Infantry) assists with the flood clean-up efforts in Gatton, Queensland.
Photo by
PTE Hamid Farahani
The usefulness of donations can be a touchy subject.
This was evident when Resilience NSW — a state government disaster management agency — appealed for the public to “only send what’s needed” and use Givit.
“It’s heartbreaking to see well-meant donations ending up in warehouses or in landfill like these ones left over after floods in 2019,” the agency posted on Facebook.
A picture of warehoused donations accompanied the post and attracted backlash.
Wasted donations: Goods intended for 2019 flood victims are now warehoused and destined for landfill after people gave too much and sent unhelpful items.
Photo by
Resilience NSW
“I see that photo and it makes me not want to donate — those clothes could all be used either as clothes or rags etc — leaving it piled up Iike that is just wasteful and I’ll never donate cash again after so much was given for the bushfires and just stockpiled by charities for their own ends,” one person commented.
“I won’t be donating cash for it to be mismanaged and not handed out by charities like the previous floods and bushfires,” another wrote.
Also: “A lot of people won’t donate cash any more after how it was wasted and not used as intended after the bushfires, greedy charities lining their own pockets.”
And: “Considering how long it took both state and federal governments to act, I don’t think you get to swoop in now and pretend you’re coordinating things.”
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