Words by Taylor Mitchell and Edwina Landale

Photos by Andrew Kaineder

As 2020 in Australia unfolds under the traumatic effects of the climate change emergency with fires burning across the country, more than twenty people have lost their lives, 14.7 million acres have burned and an estimated half a billion animals have been killed in New South Wales alone.

With a dire lack of political leadership and no signs of the fires slowing, there’s a collective despair hanging in the air along with the smoke we’re choking on.

This is desperation fuelled by the knowledge we're facing a state of emergency with a need for urgent response and aid (devastating and deadly in its own context) that exists as one part of a larger climate emergency: one rooted in a deeply flawed economic system and disputed largely by a movement that desperately needs decolonisation.

In addressing this complexity, we need to embrace multiplicity in how we respond. But firstly —and most obviously — here are some important causes you can support to assist the victims:

Donate Direct to Firefighters

By donating directly to the firefighting efforts in your state, you’re supporting the work of firefighters at the frontline. See below for links to state-specific organisations:

• Victoria: Country Fire Authority (CFA)
• NSW: Rural Fire Service
• South Australia: Country Fire Service
• Queensland: Rural Fire Brigades Association

Donate to Affected Communities

• Givit is an initiative working to provide targeted support to affected communities. Their website details what is needed where, so you know you’re giving something that will be useful and impactful rather than donating surplus goods to communities. They also accept monetary donations.
• The bushfire recovery effort will last far beyond the fires themselves – it will take years for communities and ecosystems to rebuild. Donations to The Foundation for Rural and Regional Renewal support long-term recovery of Australia’s rural communities. In the coming months and years, recovering rural economies will need our support to rebuild their tourism industries. If you’re thinking of taking a trip down the track, keep this in mind and visit an affected area.

Think of the Wildlife

• The World Wildlife Fund is running a Koala Crisis appeal. When you donate money to the appeal, you can see how your donation will be used to help restore native forests and conserve Australia’s plummeting koala populations in the face of bushfires and deforestation.
• Zoos Victoria is running a Bushfire Emergency Wildlife Fund, which currently provides veterinary care for injured animals, but will also focus a lot of funds on developing and implementing scientific intervention strategies for the coming months. This includes exploring options around supplementary food for surviving native animals.
• Wombat Rescue in NSW is also raising money to ensure an ongoing food supply for wildlife.

Housing Support

• Australian writer Erin Riley has started a novel new platform called Find A Bed, which houses displaced people the old school way. It connects bushfire affected people in NSW, Victoria and South Australia to families and houses with space in their home. It currently has 900 registered volunteers, and if you don’t have a spare room but want to help, you can always offer to care for a displaced pet.
• Airbnb is running a similar campaign to rehouse affected people.
• Architects Assist is working to connect architects who can offer pro bono services for people who have lost homes or community assets. They’re also collaborating with architecture students and graduates to rebuild homes, community buildings and businesses lost in the fres.

Community Initiatives

• The Fire Relief Fund for First Nations Communities has been set up to provide culturally sensitive, specific, and direct support for First Nations communities affected by the bushfires. Neil Morris, a Yorta Yorta man himself, started the fund in consultation with fire affected First Nations communities across the east coast.
• This Broadsheet article has a regularly updated list of bars, cafes and restaurants around Melbourne that are donating to bushfire relief. If you’re heading out for dinner or a drink this week, make it count!
• On Monday 20 January, Melbourne’s comedy community is coming together for Stand Up for Bushfire Relief – an event to raise money for the Victorian Bushfire Appeal.
• The Red Cross has been forced to close several blood collection centers due to bushfires, so they’re in desperate need of extra blood donors.

Sadly, there are some bushfire appeal scams out there. If you run into one or want to check up on the legitimacy of a cause head to the ACCC website.

“If solutions within the system are so impossible to find, then maybe we should change the system itself.”

In rebuilding our homes, ecosystems and economy in the future aftermath the fires, addressing the broader structures largely accountable for the climate emergency must be the only way forward. Along with donations of resources and doing our best to reduce our carbon emissions, those (who are able) can choke back their existentialism and push for systematic changes:

Protest

The bushfires have highlighted the need for a change in political leadership on climate issues. On Friday afternoon, thousands of people across the country turned out for ‘Sack Scomo’ protests.

Doing your bit is one thing, but calling for the government to do theirs is even more important. For future events check out:

• Climate Change Protests Australia keeps an up to date list of protest events across the country.
• Visit the Adani frontline or the Djap Warrung Embassy.

Choose your media wisely

Research who owns or publishes the media you read, and what their political leanings are. There are still a large number of major publishers who are downplaying (or completely ignoring) the effects of climate change.

Divest

Switch to a bank and superannuation that doesn’t invest in fossil fuels, like Bank Australia. You can learn more about the effectivness of divestment here.

Understand and advocate for decolonisation:

As Gregory Philips of IndigenousX argued in The Guardian: “Australia will not solve climate change and our national identity crisis if we do not invest in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander philosophy, paradigms and values for all”. If your approach to environmentalism maybe needs some unlearning, explore and support climate justice movements like Seed Mob.

Campaign Locally

• Join your local Extinction Rebellion group.
• Contact your local MP and add your voice to the call for action on climate change in Australia.

Seek out alternative daily rituals:

• Ecosia is a search engine that uses its profits to plant trees. You can add it as an extension to Chrome in about a minute. Although donating money is the most effective way to help bushfire victims, there’s plenty of things you can do for the planet that don’t cost a cent.
• Think of each dollar you spend as a vote for the world you want to live in. Check out Shop Ethical!’s guide to ethical consumption, which will show you the environmental and social track record of the companies behind common brands.

"If solutions within the system are so impossible to find, then maybe we should change the system itself." The complex predicament delivered with beautiful bluntness by Greta Thunburg serves as inspiration for the future of activism, divesting, decolonising, boycotting anti-climate-action media and the reimagination of rituals in 2020.

With over $140 million raised so far, the global response to these fires has been enormous and humbling. Matters Journal and our publisher Local Peoples are adding a drop to this ocean by making a joint donation of $7500 to relief efforts. We’re splitting this donation between Wires Wildlife Rescue, Country Fire Association and the Fire Relief Fund for First Nations Communities.

Taylor Mitchell is the digital editor of Matters Journal and the head of Pitch Portal. Edwina Landale is the assistant digital editor.