By Debbie Cuthbertson and Jessica Irvine
Donations to bushfire relief are fast approaching half a billion dollars to become what could be the biggest fundraiser ever in response to an Australian disaster as regulators warn they will step up scrutiny of how charities spend the money raised.
As donations continue to stream in, the national charities regulator has said it intends to use its investigative powers in coming months and years to ensure the money is well spent.
"We don’t want to stop the money. Keep it coming in. But let's now make every dollar count," the head of the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission, Gary Johns, told The Sun-Herald and The Sunday Age in an exclusive interview.
As charities scramble to keep up to date with the donations pouring in, a list of announced donations by philanthropists, celebrities - including Nicole Kidman, Sir Elton John and Ellen DeGeneres - and companies compiled by The Sun-Herald and The Sunday Age shows major donation announcements have topped $225 million.
Coupled with more than $147 million in donations to major charities and more than $85 million raised via online platforms such as Facebook and GoFundMe, the total amount raised appears to have surpassed $457 million. It is possible, however, that there may be some crossover between donations, for example from philanthropists and corporates to major charities or appeals.
As of Friday, the Red Cross had received $66 million in donations into its disaster appeal, while the NSW Rural Fire Service expects $51 million from Celeste Barber's Facebook fundraiser to hit its accounts soon.
The Salvation Army had received $44 million in donations to its National Disaster Bushfire Appeal since it began in early November, it confirmed on Friday. The Victorian Bushfire Appeal, coordinated by the state government with the Bendigo Bank and Salvation Army, had reached $22 million by Saturday afternoon.
National and state-based appeals by the RSPCA had raised a total of $6.2 million to help bushfire affected communities, pets, livestock and wildlife.
In the wake of the devastating Black Saturday fires in 2009, the Victorian government, in association with the federal government and the Red Cross, established a national appeal which ultimately raised $380 million in donations.
This time, the national Bushfire Recovery Agency has issued a list of 70 registered charities, fire services and animal welfare organisations Australians can trust to receive their donations.
But authorities have also witnessed a rapid escalation of scam schemes. A Scamwatch hotline established by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission received 198 online reports and 184 phone calls in its first week, including reports of websites or phone callers impersonating either charities or relatives of bushfire victims.
ACCC boss Rod Sims has warned such individuals or companies would face criminal penalties if found out.
"There's always really low-life individuals trying to take advantage of people," Mr Sims said. "[It's] just dreadful behaviour trying to take advantage of people's generosity."
Mr Johns described the outpouring of donations as "extraordinary" and urged Australians to check the charity register on the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission website before donating.
"The response has been extraordinary. It's fantastic. The issue now is let's make every dollar count," Mr Johns said.
More than $450 million has been donated in response to Australia's bushfire crisis, including $51 million via Celeste Barber's Facebook fundraiser.Credit: Wayne Taylor
As the regulator in charge, Mr Johns said he would use his powers to follow up with charities over the coming six to 18 months on how they had spent the money.
"In the middle of a crisis - bushfire or drought - it’s not that difficult to raise money, Aussies just come out and they just throw bucketloads at you. The big question is what do you do with it all. And that’s the institutional capacity question."
Previous drought appeals had exposed some charities as lacking the capacity to handle the magnitude of donations: “So we actually helped a couple of charities to lift their ability to spend the money because we all wanted the money to get out the door and in a sensible way. So you begin with good capacity charities, but you may need to build that capacity as well because of the huge amount of money that will flow through.”
Some well-meaning people who set up their own appeal could inadvertently find themselves in hot water if they do not comply with state and territory laws governing fundraising. In Victoria, for instance, individuals who raise more than $20,000 and fail to register their fundraiser could face a fine of $20,000 and up to 12 months in prison.
Krystian Seibert, an industry fellow at Swinburne University’s Centre for Social Impact, said there was a risk of an imbalance between where funds are needed most and where they end up due to the huge number of appeals on various platforms by individuals as well as organisations.
“The way the funds have been raised this time around, compared to the Victorian bushfires in 2009, is rather decentralised. There are many different organisations and different appeals, it’s just the nature of the crisis we’ve had across borders,” Mr Seibert said.
"Whether it's a person who started a small fundraiser, or a large organisation, I think it's incumbent on all of them to be transparent about how all the funds have been used."