As communities across South Australia and Northern Territory face increasingly frequently devastating weather events, Amazon Australia is ready to lend a hand via its Adelaide Disaster Relief Hub—Amazon’s first in Adelaide and fifth in Australia.
Amazon’s Adelaide Disaster Relief Hub contains more than 16,000 critical relief items, including tarps, sleeping bags, personal hygiene supplies, clean up items and first aid kits, ready to be distributed in an emergency.
How it works
By pre-positioning disaster relief items within the dedicated Adelaide hub, Amazon Australia and its non-profit partners Foodbank, Australian Red Cross and St Vincent de Paul Society can deliver critical emergency relief items to communities in SA and NT within 72 hours.
Amazon uses data and insights from its non-profit partners to identify the relief items most commonly needed on the ground when a disaster strikes. Teams of Amazon employee volunteers pack kits ahead of time so they are ready to be dispatched immediately. Amazon’s non-profit partners then pick up the relief items and deliver them directly to affected communities, or Amazon will ship directly into disaster zones as required.
Once critical items have been dispatched, Amazon Australia works with its non-profit partners on the ground to determine if any further supplies are needed, which can then be packed and delivered.
Upping the effort in the Northern Territory and South Australia
“We know from previous experience that the closer a hub is to the natural disaster, the faster we’re able to support those communities, and the better supported they are,” Charlotte Richardson, Community Engagement Manager, Amazon Australia.
“We’re really excited to be launching our hub here in South Australia because that means now we’ll have coverage across the entire country. We have Disaster Relief Hubs in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth as well, which means we can now support communities within 72 hours of a natural disaster, regardless of where they are in Australia.”
For Amazon Australia’s charity partners, the opening of an Adelaide hub has increased their reach, allowing for recovery efforts to reach right across the country.
“The opening of the Adelaide facility means we’re better positioned when communities in the Northern Territory and South Australia are impacted by natural disasters, so we can continue to support communities in even remote pockets of the country,” said Sarah Strathearn, South Australia Director, Australia Red Cross.
Greg Pattinson, CEO Foodbank SA, added, “In the last two years we’ve had major bushfires on Kangaroo Island and up in the Adelaide Hills. In this last 12 months we’ve had major flooding of the Murray River, down from the Riverland, through Murray Bridge.”
“We have a partner like Amazon that has nationwide support who can actually activate and get products that we need. It means that we have an immediate site so we can have a rallying point here and also to aggregate products that we need to support the victims.”
Amazon Australia volunteer Rita grew up in Adelaide and after seeing friends affected by the flooding earlier this year as well as the fires on Kangaroo Island, she knew she needed to get involved in the effort.
“I’m really motivated to be part of this disaster relief effort, acknowledging that a lot of my friends had families affected by the floods. A lot my friends worked in council areas affected by the fires that we’ve had,” said Rita.
“Watching what’s happening globally with the heat and summer, it’s really important that we’re prepared for what might happen in South Australia. I’m really proud to be a part of Amazon’s effort.”
Impact of the network so far
Since the devastating 2019-20 bushfires, Amazon Australia has sourced and dispatched more than 545,000 relief items and supported its non-profit partners through 13 disasters including bushfires, floods and COVID outbreaks. So far this year, Amazon Australia has supported communities affected by fires in Chinchilla, Queensland through its Brisbane Disaster Relief Hub, donating clean up kits, toiletry bags, tarps and sleeping bags through non-profit partner Drought Angels. Amazon has also supported communities affected by flooding in the Northern Territory, providing the Australian Red Cross and Foodbank with 5,480 relief items including sleeping bags, clean up kits, toiletry bags and nappies.
Disaster Relief by Amazon is a signature part of Amazon Australia’s local community relief efforts. Globally, Amazon has donated more than 23 million items, supporting communities through 108 disasters across the world, including the earthquake disaster and wildfires in Türkiye and Syria. Amazon’s resources and logistics capabilities make it uniquely suited to help vulnerable people when a crisis strikes. Amazon’s disaster relief efforts utilise its technology and global logistics network to provide fast, effective aid in times of need.
Click here to learn more about Disaster Relief by Amazon.
