{"id":538136,"date":"2026-03-13T16:44:21","date_gmt":"2026-03-13T16:44:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/538136\/"},"modified":"2026-03-13T16:44:21","modified_gmt":"2026-03-13T16:44:21","slug":"taxpayer-funding-pulled-from-disaster-response-team-after-allegations-of-fraud","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/538136\/","title":{"rendered":"Taxpayer funding pulled from disaster response team after allegations of fraud"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Eryk<\/p>\n

March 13, 2026 \u2014 4:06pm<\/p>\n

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The federal government has pulled taxpayer funding from Australia\u2019s top disaster relief organisation after an internal revolt over allegations of fraud and misuse of funds plunged it into voluntary administration.<\/p>\n

Disaster Relief Australia was feted by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and led by two of Australia\u2019s most decorated military commanders, Major General Andrew Freeman and Brigadier David Smith. In 2022, it was awarded a $38 million federal government grant to run hundreds of disaster relief operations across Australia, including responses to the Lismore floods, Cyclone Jasper and the Black Summer bushfires.<\/p>\n

\"MajorMajor General Andrew Freeman with Malaysian Army Major General Dato\u2019 Azhan bin Md Othman in Canberra last year.<\/p>\n

But in December, this masthead revealed claims<\/a> that Disaster Relief Australia (DRA) inflated membership numbers, used opaque recruitment practices, prioritised marketing over missions, and pushed out whistleblowers who raised concerns.<\/p>\n

In a letter to volunteers on Thursday, Freeman said the federal government had suspended its taxpayer funding.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe reason behind DRA funding being suspended is both National Emergency Management Agency [NEMA] and Business Grants Hub are aware of the allegations of fraud and misuse of government funding claims made by a very small group of individuals against our organisation,\u201d Freeman, the DRA chair, said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHowever, an independent investigation did not substantiate, on the available and relevant evidence, allegations of organisational or management level fraud, misuse of funds, or irregular or inappropriate hiring processes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last year, eight whistleblowers claimed<\/a> DRA had lost its way as a veteran-led organisation by inflating membership numbers, engaging in wasteful spending, and fostering a culture of censorship and retribution.<\/p>\n

DRA said at the time it had 6700 volunteers registered to assist in emergencies. Internal documents revealed that only 2503 were ready to deploy.<\/p>\n

\"FormerFormer emergency nurse and DRA volunteeer Rhonda Sheil. Alex Ellinghausen<\/p>\n

DRA volunteer Rhonda Sheil, a former emergency nurse, said she was \u201cbloody angry\u201d after she claimed DRA told her not to remove the names of volunteers who had stopped working with the organisation because it needed to justify its funding, putting volunteers and communities at risk in disaster zones.<\/p>\n

The claims by Sheil and several other whistleblowers, including former army chaplain Chris Graeme-Drury, triggered an investigation by the National Emergency Management Agency, which remains ongoing.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn November 2025, DRA employees made serious allegations about the management of DRA, including the potential misappropriation of Australian government grant funding,\u201d a National Emergency Management Agency spokesperson said.<\/p>\n

\u201cUpon receipt, NEMA commenced actions under the Commonwealth Fraud and Corruption Control Framework to assess and investigate those allegations.\u201d<\/p>\n

The spokesperson said DRA\u2019s move into voluntary administration was disappointing and that the decision to withhold funding did not constitute findings against DRA.<\/p>\n

But Freeman said DRA could not continue to operate without millions of dollars in government funding. Fort Restructuring has been appointed to manage the voluntary administration, which will impact 90 employees and thousands of volunteers.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe understand and appreciate this period, and uncertainty will be unsettling for the many veterans and volunteers who have selflessly given their time, knowledge and skills to help communities in Australia and beyond,\u201d Fort\u2019s administrator Mark Robinson said.<\/p>\n

\"PrimePrime Minister Anthony Albanese campaigned with Disaster Relief Australia in Queensland during the 2022 election. Alex Ellinghausen<\/p>\n

Freeman said the decision was reversible if the federal government recommitted funding and DRA intended to resolve the situation as quickly as possible.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is incredibly disappointing and disruptive for us all,\u201d he said. \u201cWe assure you that we have done all within our power to try and avoid reaching this situation and will continue to work with the National Emergency Management Agency via the administrator to resolve the matter.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a statement, the DRA Redress and Complaints Group, formed by the whistleblowers, said that when they attempted to resolve their concerns internally, they were ignored. They rejected claims that they were responsible for the organisation\u2019s move into voluntary administration.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom these challenges, there remains hope that something stronger can emerge \u2013 an organisation rebuilt on transparency, integrity, and respect for the volunteers and staff who form the backbone of disaster response in Australia,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n

Fort expects to hold its first creditors meeting on March 24.<\/p>\n

Cut through the noise of federal politics with news, views and expert analysis. Subscribers can sign up to our weekly Inside Politics newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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\"ErykEryk Bagshaw<\/a> is an investigative reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.
\nHe was previously North Asia correspondent. Reach him securely on Signal @bagshawe.01Connect via X<\/a> or email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"March 13, 2026 \u2014 4:06pm Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":538137,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,44],"class_list":["post-538136","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/538136","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=538136"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/538136\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/538137"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=538136"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=538136"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=538136"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}