Bushfires: Ramsay Foundation commits $30m to relief funds

The Paul Ramsay Foundation has pledged $30m to support communities affected by the bushfires.

The Paul Ramsay Foundation has pledged $30m to support communities affected by the bushfires — $3m will be donated immediately, with the Red Cross, the Foundation for Rural and Regional Renewal and St Vincent de Paul to get $1m each for current relief efforts.

The remaining $27m will be allocated over the next 12 to 18 months in consultation with government agencies, charities and affected communities.

The donations are being staggered in line with the National Principles for Disaster Recovery to ensure appropriate money is provided to each stage of disaster response: relief, recovery, rebuilding and resilience.

“We are in this together,” said Paul Ramsay Foundation chief executive Glyn Davis. “The foundation is acutely aware it is those already vulnerable to entrenched disadvantage who will be hardest hit by the consequences of the current bushfires,” he said.

The foundation is the largest philanthropic foundation in Australia.