About Us
Here's more about us
Our primary objectives are to co-ordinate recovery efforts, secure properties, livelihoods, farms and animals, distribute material aid, provide temporary accommodation and facilities, perform clean-ups, and offer any other relevant assistance, goods and services to help in recovery efforts and get people's lives back, following a disaster.
Being connected with people and communities and taking a personal interest in their suffering is what drives us to provide our help to those in need. Our experiences allow us to engage, hear and see people's suffering and devastation. Our committee have all had some experience in either suffering or feeling people's frustration of traditional agencies and insurers dragging their feet with recovery assistance, or even refusing to help, leading to helplessness and despair, including accumulating to further erode the mental health of those living the nightmare. Financially, many people affected by disaster are often strained, restricting their efforts to recover and rebuild their lives. And their experience can often have a flow on affect to each and every one of us.
Disaster Recovery Army was established to minimise continued harm, and to get in there and help people and communities recover, fast, and in ways beyond what any other organisation can do. We approach everyone's situation individually, whilst extending compassion, understanding, and a genuine desire to provide immediate help to get people's lives back. We listen, we assess, and we pull in all resources to get the recovery process underway, without bias or judgment, but with openness, integrity and honesty. Through these values, we build rapport and trust with people, communities, donors, our workers and volunteers, partners and suppliers, enabling an 'all-in-it' effort to get things done. We deliver on what we say we will do. And with our partners committing to do the same, our shared like-mindedness stands out, shines, and allows us to proactively provide meaningful assistance where and when it's needed. And there's no bureaucracy.
Our structure, comprising of a committee, employees, and an at-call volunteer force is in place to respond immediately to almost any situation.
We're a registered charity
What we do in recovery is involved
Our Brands
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 referred to as disaster.org.au—a name to become synonymous with disaster recovery in Australia.
Our brand-new socials are all aligned with disaster.org.au.
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 (including farmers), is an important disaster recovery focus to ensure that properties, crops, and livestock are secured and that farmers on income-producing properties can quickly get their livelihoods back 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.
Though timing is critical in recovery, sometimes limitations restrict immediate response. However, we’ve always remained conscious that when agencies act as conduits in recovery, delays are often inevitable. So, we allowed people affected by disasters to contact us directly to seek help, especially when livelihoods, safety and security, and livestock are involved.
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 also expanded into a whole-of-Australia organisation.
With our national expansion and specific service demands, we commenced new specialised arms within the charity, including Disaster Recovery Fencing, Australian Disaster Recovery Organisation, Disaster Academy and disaster.org.au – trading and brand names and divisions under the ownership and operation of Disaster Recovery Army.
Disaster Recovery Army remains a volunteer force of community-minded people who contribute their time, skills, and experience to our other operational and trading arms.