The Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC) has found that the way Australian charities managed the donations they received in response to the 2019-2020 summer bushfire season was “credible and professional”.
In its landmark report Bushfire Response 2019-20 – Reviews of three Australian charities, the ACNC examined the work of the Australian Red Cross Society, the Trustee for NSW Rural Fire Services & Brigades Donations Fund (NSW RFS) and NSW Wildlife Information Rescue and Education Service Incorporated (WIRES).
“All three charities received substantial donations, attracting attention and generating high public expectations,” ACNC said.
“Overall, more than $640 million dollars for relief and recovery efforts was raised through generous public donations,” it said.
It said it conducted the Reviews and made the report public to address the gap between the public’s expectations of charities and the reality of responding to the bushfire disaster.
ACNC Commissioner Gary Johns said that given the scale of the disaster, the huge amount of money raised and the level of community expectation, it was important to provide assurance to the public by conducting the Reviews.
“We found each charity to be credible and professional,” Dr Johns said.
“They were able to show us that they were taking the necessary steps to manage the funds responsibly in a time of great uncertainty, where the situation was rapidly changing,” he said.
“The ACNC found that the charities also faced challenges in being able to deliver relief quickly, which affected the perception of their effectiveness.”
Dr Johns said charities’ challenges included changing demand and donation levels; difficulty identifying legitimate fire victims; the need to combat fraud; and the messages from third-party fundraising campaigns that were out of charities’ control.
He said criticisms and concerns that charities were withholding funds and not distributing them correctly were unfounded.
“Donated funds are ‘charitable funds’, as is any interest they earn, and legally charities can only use their charitable funds to deliver their charitable programs,” he said.
“In emergency situations it is not always possible for charities to begin delivering programs immediately because they need information and time to plan how to maximise their impact.”
Dr Johns said he was satisfied with the outcome of the Review and wanted all Australians to feel reassured that their generosity and trust in charities was well placed.
ACNC’s 41-page Report can be downloaded at this PS News link.
