Amazon Australia Opens Disaster Relief HUB in Brisbane for Faster Response to Natural Disasters
BRISBANE, 12 December 2022: Amazon Australia is opening its third Disaster Relief Hub at its Brisbane Fulfilment Centre today, pre-positioning more than 27,000 relief items to help its non-profit partners respond to natural disasters ahead of Queensland’s cyclone season.
The launch of Amazon Australia’s Brisbane Disaster Relief Hub follows the opening of similar Hubs in Sydney and Melbourne in 2021 as part of Amazon’s Disaster Relief program.
If a natural disaster hits, Amazon Australia’s emergency teams will be able to quickly assess what supplies are available, procure additional items if needed, and then a team of volunteers will consolidate, pack and ship supplies to non-profit partners or directly into disaster zones.
Amazon Australia works with non-profit partners including Foodbank, St Vincent de Paul Society and the Australian Red Cross, to leverage their knowledge and identify the most needed products on the ground during a natural disaster. Then, Amazon’s logistics expertise is used to deliver the required products to affected communities within 24-48 hours.
Amazon Australia has worked with its non-profit partners to decrease the response time, analysing its own data from across the last year of disaster support to form a pre-positioning strategy. The strategy is tailored to the most common relief supplies needed by Amazon Australia’s non-profit partners to do their lifesaving work.
Once those critical relief items have been dispatched, Amazon Australia then works with its non-profit partners to identify what other supplies are needed from Amazon’s vast selection of products and fills additional unique critical needs.
Each Disaster Relief Hub contains at least 3,000 toiletry bags, 1,000 clean-up kits including detergent, scrubbing brushes, garbage bags and gloves, disinfectant wipes, along with other essentials including nappies, tarps, sleeping bags, wipes and sanitary items. Wherever possible, these items have been sourced and purchased by Amazon from its Australian small and medium business sellers, including Little Urchin, Beauty and the Bees, Bunji and Zenify.
Mindy Espidio-Garcia, Amazon Australia’s Director of Operations, said: “Australia has experienced more than its fair share of natural disasters over the last few years, from bushfires to floods. As we enter the cyclone season in Queensland and severe weather events become more prevalent and extreme, we’re proud to work with our incredible non-profit partners and leverage our scale and expertise in logistics and operations to provide rapid relief to Queensland communities when its needed most with items they need the most.”
“We’re also grateful to our incredible Amazon Australia employees who volunteer their time to get disaster relief items on their way to affected communities in such a short timeframe. People are at the heart of our operations at Amazon, but what I’m most proud of is the heart our people show in helping those in need during their toughest times. We could not do this work without them.”
Joan Pease MP, Member for Lytton, said: “Preparedness is a critical element in minimising the consequences of an event on a community and ensuring effective response and recovery. The establishment of this disaster relief centre will ensure our non-profit partners can meet the demand of impacted communities and continue to provide wonderful care combining practical and emotional support to families struggling with the effects of these events.”
Michael Davidson, General Manager, National Supply Chain, Foodbank Australia, said: “We are seeing natural disasters of increased frequency and intensity across Australia, to the point that one in five food insecure households are now reporting natural disasters as the reason they have struggled to put food on the table in the last 12 months. We no longer prepare for disaster ‘season’ at Foodbank. We need to be ready year-round, and thanks to Amazon’s Disaster Relief program, we now have improved rapid access to essential food and groceries to help get essential food relief to affected communities. We are so grateful to the team at Amazon for their tireless support, especially in helping us prepare for and respond to natural disasters so that food is one less thing for people to worry about.”
Matt Nunan, Vice President of the Queensland State Council and Chair National Social Justice Advisory Committee, St Vincent de Paul Society, said: “The St Vincent de Paul Society has been very grateful for Amazon’s sustained help over the last few years both in terms of donations and logistical support, particularly during the Black Summer bushfires, the Northern Rivers floods, and the COVID pandemic. Amazon has supplied us with everything from tents, sleeping bags and generators in the wake of floods, to PPE and alcohol hand sanitiser during the pandemic, and taken care of transportation.”
Carolyne Doherty, Qld State Coordinator – Resilience and Recovery, Australian Red Cross, said: “Our partnership enables Red Cross to provide vital support to communities before, during and after disasters. Thanks to the support of our partners like Amazon, Red Cross has supported 131,000 Australians during 42 emergency activations in the past year. Without the support of organisations like Amazon we could not be there to help people on their toughest days. Together we want to build a better prepared and more resilient Australia.”
The Disaster Relief Hubs are a signature part of Amazon Australia’s local community relief efforts. Since the devastating 2019/20 bushfires, Amazon Australia has sourced and dispatched more than 520,000 relief items and supported our nonprofit partners through 10 disasters including bushfires, floods and COVID outbreaks. During the 2022 flood crisis, Amazon dispatched more than 50,000 relief items packed in individual kits by volunteers through its Sydney and Melbourne Hubs.
In September, Amazon Australia officially joined the ‘Australian Red Cross Disaster Relief Collective’, a cross-sector think tank of corporate partners led by the Red Cross to enhance preparedness, response and recovery efforts in Australia.
Amazon Web Services (AWS) also supports affected local councils and businesses with technology solutions such as AWS call centre support, guidance to assist with IT infrastructure scaling, and assistance with connectivity issues while primary IT infrastructure is being repaired or rebuilt.
The Disaster Relief Hubs initiative is part of Amazon’s established global disaster relief and response program, which has sourced and dispatched more than 18.3 million relief items to support communities impacted by more than 81 natural disasters around the world.
– ENDS –
Notes to editors
Visual assets: B-roll available upon request. Contact emma.toole@redhavas.com for details.
About Amazon
Amazon is guided by four principles: customer obsession rather than competitor focus, passion for invention, commitment to operational excellence, and long-term thinking. Amazon strives to be Earth’s Most Customer-Centric Company, Earth’s Best Employer, and Earth’s Safest Place to Work. Customer reviews, 1-Click shopping, personalised recommendations, Prime, Fulfillment by Amazon, AWS, Kindle Direct Publishing, Kindle, Career Choice, Fire tablets, Fire TV, Amazon Echo, Alexa, Just Walk Out technology, Amazon Studios, and The Climate Pledge are some of the things pioneered by Amazon. For more information, visit amazon.com/about and follow @AmazonNews.