Disaster Relief Australia Volunteer Uplift Program

Overview

The program supports Disaster Relief Australia (DRA) to upscale their organisational capacity and capability to support communities affected by disasters in the relief and recovery phases. The objectives of the program are to: * support the rapid uplift of DRA’s capacity as an organisation to lay the foundation for the ongoing expansion of the volunteer workforce and organisational operations in the relief and recovery phases of disasters * cover uplift costs associated with recruitment, deployment, equipment and training of 5,200 new volunteers in addition to DRA’s existing disaster volunteer workforce. The intended outcomes of the program are: * expansion of operations and capability of DRA, including recruitment of 5,200 new volunteers  * a skilled volunteer base consisting of Australian Defence Force (ADF) veterans, emergency responders and civilians that can be rapidly deployed as disaster relief teams and that can integrate into existing emergency management arrangements to support the relief and recovery phases of disasters * provide an additional capacity in the recovery phase of disasters reducing the reliance on deployments of the ADF  * ongoing recovery support to communities affected by disasters such as floods and bushfire * support the positive physical and mental health wellbeing and social connectedness outcomes for volunteers.