About Us
Our Story. Our Purpose. Our Future.
From humble beginnings in disaster recovery to a national leader in building community resilience, we're here to help Australians before, during and after disasters.
Who We Are
Our Story
Every disaster leaves behind more than damaged homes. They leave disrupted lives - families, farmers, businesses and communities.
Through every recovery effort, we witness something else. Many of the hardships people experience could be reduced through better preparedness, stronger community resilience, and earlier action.
Each of our recovery deployment experiences has helped shape our organisation's direction forever.
Why We've Evolved
Recovery will always remain central to our mission.
But Australia can't simply become better at recovering.
We must become better at reducing disaster impacts before they occur.
That's why we've expanded our focus on recovery to resilience.
What We Do
Our Values
Our Difference
Looking Ahead
We're a registered charity
Our Brands
Australian Disaster Recovery Organisation is our identifiable brand name, encapsulating all we do as a charitable organisation performing disaster recovery services across Australia.
Disaster.org.au is an identifiable domain name and website of our encompassing organisation. It stood to reason that we decided to make the name a trading name of our charity for its ease of recognition. As we move forward with our growth plans, we’ll be aligning our activities to disaster.org.au—a name synonymous with disaster recovery in Australia.
Our brand-new socials are all now aligned with disaster.org.au.
Farmhand Heroes is our dedicated arm established to help farmers and farming communities recover after disasters.
Farmhand Heroes goes above and beyond in helping our farming communities by providing specialised assistance to help farmers become more sustainable and protect their land.
Farmhand Heroes recognises the importance of farmers and farming communities, appreciating that they are our country's backbone in producing the food we all require.
Disaster Recovery Fencing was established to address a key area in repairing and replacing fencing for those affected by disasters.
Fencing, especially for those in regional, rural, and remote communities, is an important disaster recovery focus. It ensures that properties, crops, and livestock are secured and that farmers on income-producing properties can quickly restore their livelihoods to normal.
Disaster Recovery Fencing engages with volunteers with specific training and experience to help repair or replace fencing as quickly and professionally as possible.
Equipped with the tools, equipment, and supplies they need to get the job done, Disaster Recovery Fencing boasts qualified and resourced professionals and volunteers who help clear, rebuild, and secure properties, providing peace of mind to those who have been affected and impacted by a disaster.
Disaster Academy is a training and education division of our organisation. It helps equip our volunteers with the necessary skills and knowledge of tools, equipment, and processes to perform their work and focuses on helping educate communities about disasters, preparedness, recovery, and resilience building. Disaster Academy has relationships with leading training providers and institutions to provide quality disaster management and recovery training. Our volunteers are trained in operating chainsaws, fencing, first aid, mental health, traffic management, health and safety, and food handling.
The Disaster Academy's community focus provides useful, purposeful, and often community-led training and education on managing disaster recovery, helping foster resilient communities.
From humble beginnings of providing a workforce of volunteers assisting other community groups and charities, Disaster Recovery Army was born.
Very quickly, our charity grew. Our volunteer base exploded, and we gained an enviable reputation for being able to get on the ground to help people recover after a disaster at lightning speed.
Encouraging a direct approach to assistance saw us grow even faster. With this growth, we began assisting multiple communities at a time and broadening our help services offerings. Our Victorian-centred focus organically expanded into an Australian organisation.
With our national expansion and specific service demands, we commenced new specialised arms within the charity, including Australian Disaster Recovery Organisation, Farmhand Heroes, Disaster Recovery Fencing, Disaster Academy and disaster.org.au – all registered brands of Disaster Recovery Army.
Disaster Recovery Army remains a volunteer force of community-minded people who contribute their time, skills, and experience to all of our brands.