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Indian Ocean Tsunami

On 26 December 2004, an earthquake measuring 9.15 on the Richter Scale triggered giant waves which claimed over 230,000 lives and left millions of people homeless in ten countries. The tsunami not only destroyed large areas of land and millions of homes, but also destroyed the livelihoods and hopes of the millions of survivors.

Total revenue

The generosity of Australians in response to this human tragedy was magnificent, with over $350 million in public donations to the 30 ACFID member agencies involved. With the emergency response phase long over, reconstruction and development work is expected to continue for another 5–10 years.

For the period 26 Dec 04 to 30 Sep 06, total revenue (public + corporate + government + interest earned) raised by the 30 ACFID member agencies that conducted tsunami appeals was $394.35 million (Australian dollars).

Public = $275.60 million
Corporate = $78.53 million
Government* = $22.24 million
Interest earned = $18.03 million

* Government comprises funds from AusAID, other federal government departments and state government departments.

Accountability

ACFID's tsunami accountability reports

With such a high volume of funds donated, Australian NGOs produced a number of accountability reports, detailing financial expenditure and project details.
Total revenue figures by agency are available in ACFID's final tsunami accountability report (dated 6 December 2006).

The Tsunami: Reflecting on our efforts

On Friday 4 August 2006 ACFID held a seminar in Sydney for its members to discuss common challenges and lessons learnt from their response to the humanitarian emergency caused by the Indian Ocean tsunami of December 26th 2004. Thirty-nine participants from 21 member agencies, 2 non-member agencies and ACFID took part. The seminar comprised an introduction, three sessions, each followed by a plenary, and a final general discussion session drawing together the main themes, lessons and suggestions for action by the sector, followed by an evaluation of the day.

Papers and presentations from 'The Tsunami: Reflecting on our efforts' seminar

Links and downloads AlertNet, Overview of Tsunami Tsunami Evaluation Coalition Sri Lanka, Sunday Times online: Most tsunami drug donations were useless and dangerous (pdf 38kb) Study on drug donations in the province of Aceh in Indonesia (pdf 189kb)


On Simuelue Island off Sumatra local farmer Zaenuddin is increasing his cocoa yield – and doubling his income – thanks to a livelihoods assistance program which is one of 44 long-term tsunami response projects run by Australian Red Cross.
Read more of the human stories from the Australian contribution in Supporting our Neighbours: Australians making a difference.