Australian charities are struggling to meet record demand for essential goods, with nearly four in five saying they don't have enough donated items to support their communities.
The figures come from new research by national charity Good360 Australia, which surveyed 279 charities and disadvantaged schools across the country. The report, Bridging the Recovery Gap, found that 80 per cent of charities say demand for non-food aid has never been higher, while 78 per cent lack sufficient donated goods to meet community need — up from 65 per cent in 2024.
Good360 founder and managing director Alison Covington AM said Australia was facing compounding pressures, with an ongoing cost of living crisis layered on top of increasingly frequent floods, bushfires and severe weather events.
"Too many Australians are silently struggling years on from disaster, without the basics to make a house a home," Covington said.
The research highlights a prolonged recovery crisis that extends well beyond the immediate disaster response. Nearly two-thirds of charities (62 per cent) said most families take more than two years to recover — or never fully recover at all. A further 63 per ent reported more people reaching out for support for the first time.
Of the charities surveyed, 87 per cent said retailers and businesses could be doing more to get essential goods — including clothing — to people in need, while 92 per cent said the same of governments.
Covington said smart collaboration between business, government and the charity sector was essential to closing what Good360 calls the "recovery gap."
"By donating surplus goods, businesses and retailers have a huge opportunity to provide relief to Australians doing it tough," she said.
Harvey Norman, a major Good360 partner since 2019, has been donating white goods, furniture and appliances to support the effort. General manager of sponsorships, Samantha Waters, said every home should be a place of safety, but for too many Australians recovering from crisis, that simply wasn't the case.
Charities also identified funding constraints (57 per cent) and the rising cost of essential household items (56 per cent) as their greatest concerns, followed by insufficient donated goods (46 per cent).
Covington AM said the research makes clear that supporting Australians doing it tough and closing the recovery gap requires businesses, government and the charity sector to work together at scale.
“Every week we distribute thousands of essential household items such as appliances, furniture, bedding, clothing and utensils to charities and disadvantaged schools across the country, but we need more support to meet the growing demand,” she said.