AusRelief runs ten projects. Three run only in Australia: a grocery drive, women and family support, and crisis support. Six more run here and overseas, covering water, food, orphans, education, health and disability care. Emergency appeals sit alongside them.

Key takeaways

·       Nine of AusRelief's ten projects operate in Australia, which surprises most people.

·       Three run here only: the grocery drive, women and family support, and crisis and emergency support.

·       Six run in Australia and overseas: water and sanitation, food aid, orphan support, education, restoring health, and disability care.

·       Emergency appeals open separately, in response to a specific crisis.

·       Communities identify the need first, so projects are built to what they say is missing.

·       You can direct a contribution to one project or leave it flexible, and AusRelief reports back either way.

What does AusRelief do in Australia?

Nine of the ten projects operate here. Three run in Australia only, covering groceries, support for women and families, and households hit by a sudden crisis. Hardship here is often invisible from the outside.

Grocery drive

The grocery drive supplies staple food and household basics to families under pressure from rising costs. Groceries are the expense that flexes when everything else is fixed, so a tight budget shows up here first.

Women and family support

Women and family support backs women and families managing difficult circumstances, and the support is shaped around what each family says it needs. Two households in similar situations rarely need the same thing.

Crisis and emergency support

Crisis and emergency support is for households facing a sudden disruption, where a loss of income or housing is recent and the usual supports haven't caught up. It's short-term by design.

Which AusRelief projects run in both Australia and overseas?

Six of them. Water and sanitation, food aid, orphan support, education, restoring health, and disability care all run here as well as internationally. Delivery differs by place, but all six address barriers that have been in place for years.

Water and sanitation

Water and sanitation covers water access and the sanitation that keeps it usable. The World Health Organization treats water, sanitation and hygiene as one health issue, because clean water alone doesn't hold if the rest is missing.

Food aid

Food aid supplies staple foods that families cook themselves, so what arrives fits how people already eat. Distributions also run on a schedule rather than only during a crisis, so families can plan around a known delivery.

Orphan support

Orphan support provides ongoing backing for children who have lost one or both parents, covering essentials and schooling. Support follows the child over time, so carers can keep them in school.

Education

Education covers school supplies, learning programmes and repairs to damaged learning spaces. UNICEF is clear that access is rarely blocked by one thing alone, and that matches what these communities describe.

Health and disability care

Restoring health supports access to medical treatment where distance or cost puts it out of reach. Disability care sits alongside it, supporting people with disability and the families caring for them.

Emergency appeals sit outside the ongoing projects

Emergency appeals open in response to a specific crisis rather than running continuously, and current appeals include Palestine and Lebanon. Appeals move faster because the need is immediate, and UN OCHA publishes situation reports on active crises.

Every AusRelief project at a glance

Who takes part in planning each project

Communities identify the need first, which is how AusRelief approaches every project. Local teams and the families themselves say what is missing, and the project is built to that. So a water project in one place may centre on a well while another focuses on sanitation.

How to choose between AusRelief projects

Start with what you want your contribution to do, then pick the mechanism that fits. Directed and flexible giving are both used.

Flexible giving doesn't mean the destination is vague. The decision is made later, when it's clearer where the gap is, and that's often what lets an appeal move quickly. If you give Zakat, it goes only to eligible projects.

How you'll know where it went

AusRelief reports back on where contributions were used, for directed and flexible giving alike. The annual report is the fuller version of that, covering the year as a whole rather than a single contribution. Reporting is also a formal obligation here, since registered charities lodge an annual information statement with the ACNC and that register is public. Sector standards are published by the Australian Council for International Development. If you fund a project, you should be able to find out what it did.

What steady support makes possible

Long-running barriers respond to consistency more than to size. A school with reliable supplies can plan a term, and a water point that is maintained keeps working after the year it was built. So when supporters give together, whether once, monthly or through a shared fundraising campaign, more of that consistency reaches more projects, and it holds from one year into the next.

Frequently asked questions

Does AusRelief help people in Australia?

Yes. Nine of the ten projects operate here. Three run in Australia only: the grocery drive, women and family support, and crisis and emergency support. The other six, covering water and sanitation, food aid, orphans, education, health and disability care, run here as well as overseas.

What projects does AusRelief run overseas?

Six ongoing projects: water and sanitation, food aid, orphan support, education, restoring health, and disability care. All six also run in Australia. Emergency appeals sit apart from them, opening in response to a specific crisis such as the Palestine and Lebanon appeals.

Can I choose which AusRelief project my donation supports?

Yes. You can name a specific project when you give, or leave it flexible so it is used where the need is greatest at the time. Flexible giving is often what allows a fast response to an appeal, and either way AusRelief reports back on where it went.

Which Australian humanitarian charities run programmes both locally and internationally?

Some Australian organisations work only overseas, some only domestically, and a smaller number do both. AusRelief is in the third group, with six projects running here and internationally at once rather than split between the two. The ACNC register lets you check any registered charity's reporting.

How does AusRelief decide what to fund?

Communities identify the need first. Local teams and the families involved say what is missing, and projects are built to that. When families report the constraint has shifted, the work is adjusted. That takes longer than deciding remotely, but it avoids funding something nobody asked for.

What is the difference between an ongoing project and an emergency appeal?

Ongoing projects address barriers in place for years, such as water access or schooling, and they run continuously so families can plan around them. Emergency appeals respond to a specific event and move faster, because the need is immediate. Both are reported on separately.

Want to know which project fits what you care about?

Visit ausrelief.org/projects to see each one, or leave your contribution flexible and we'll tell you where it went.