16 News

As communities impacted by ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred begin clean-up and recovery efforts, there are warnings today to remain vigilant against potential fundraising scams to ensure you’re not wasting your donation.

The great Aussie spirit that sees many people want to dig deep to help others in a time of need can be taken advantage of by scammers.

NSW Fair Trading is warning donors against scammers who often seek to exploit this goodwill by setting up fake fundraising pages or posing as legitimate charities.

Top tips to avoid fundraising scams:

• Check credentials: Only donate to registered charities with a charitable fundraising licence.
• Avoid unsolicited requests: Be wary of phone calls, emails, or social media messages asking for donations.
• Research before you donate: Use official channels like the ACNC Charity Register and Verify NSW.
• Report suspicious activity: Visit Scamwatch and NSW Fair Trading.

To check if a charity is legitimate and holds a charitable fundraising licence, visit Verify NSW here: https://verify.licence.nsw.gov.au/home/Charities or use the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC) Charity Register here: https://www.acnc.gov.au/charity/charities.

To report a scam or express concerns about illegitimate fundraising activities, visit Contact Scamwatch here: https://www.scamwatch.gov.au/ and NSW Fair Trading here: https://www.nsw.gov.au/departments-and-agencies/fair-trading/complaints-and-enquiries or call NSW Fair Trading on 13 32 20.

People looking to make a financial contribution or to donate other goods such as food or clothing are encouraged to visit the GIVIT website (a non-profit organisation partnering with the NSW and Queensland Governments to support communities impacted by Cyclone Alfred) here: https://www.givit.org.au/tropical-cyclone-alfred.

GIVIT lists essential goods and services required by people and recovery groups in specific communities and allows people to donate the item or contribute financially towards it.

The list of items is regularly updated as recovery efforts progress.

For more information and support on how to donate responsibly, please visit the NSW Government website here: https://www.nsw.gov.au/emergency/recovery/donations.

Minister for Better Regulation and Fair Trading Anoulack Chanthivong:

“It’s inspiring to see the outpouring of support to ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred victims from NSW communities, but we want to ensure donations reach those in need rather than unscrupulous scammers.

“That’s why we are urging everyone, before donating, please take a moment to verify that the charity or fundraiser you intend to donate to is licensed and legitimate.

“Unfortunately, scammers will take advantage of people’s goodwill during a natural disaster like ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred.

“Scammers can be very convincing, often using emotional appeals, fake social media pages, or crowdfunding platforms so please be scam-aware and contact NSW Fair Trading if you are in doubt.”

Minister for Emergency Services Jihad Dib:

“Thank you to the thousands of volunteers across the NSW State Emergency Service and other emergency agencies who worked tirelessly to assist Northern Rivers and Mid North Coast communities this past week.

“It speaks volumes that people that want to help but please consider donating to help those in need through GIVIT or another reputable charity you feel comfortable with.

“These charities will ensure people get exactly what they need when they need it.”

The NSW Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee will conduct an inquiry into the safety and quality of health services provided by Northern Beaches Hospital, after a request by Health Minister Ryan Park.

Minister Park wrote to the Committee’s Chair Jason Yat-Sen Li requesting the inquiry following the tragic death of Joe Massa after receiving care at the hospital.

The scope of the inquiry will stretch back to the hospital’s commencement as a privately operated facility from October 2018.

It will consider incidents at the hospital including those the subject of serious adverse event reviews (SAERs); how the hospital responded; and the extent to which it implemented changes prompted by those incidents.

It will look at how the hospital supports patient and carer escalation, including the Recognise, Engage, Act, Call, Help is on its way (REACH) protocol – an initiative which was found to be insufficiently accessible in the case of Joe Massa. 

It will also examine the adequacy of systems and processes designed to prevent adverse events, as well as the staff standards and capabilities.

The hospital was similarly the subject of another parliamentary inquiry in 2019, which looked at its operation and management.

The upcoming inquiry will focus more on the safety and quality of health services at the hospital, while also having regard to the findings of the 2019 inquiry, in particular, the extent to which findings and recommendations from that inquiry have since been implemented.

NSW Minister for Health Ryan Park:

“We made a commitment to Elouise and Danny to undertake the necessary reviews to understand how they and their son have been let down, as well as to learn what changes need to be made to prevent such a tragedy from occurring again.

“To that end, I’ve asked the NSW Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee to conduct an inquiry into the safety and quality of health services provided at Northern Beaches Hospital. 

“I am grateful to the Massas for their generosity in time and spirit in working with us to honour Joe’s memory.”

Chair, NSW Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee Jason Yat-Sen Li:

“I understand the strong community interest in this matter, and I am confident the committee is well placed to undertake this important inquiry.

“I am determined to get this inquiry underway as quickly as possible, but I also want to get it right.

“We will announce the opening of submissions as well as hearing dates in due course.”

In the aftermath of Tropical Cyclone Alfred, the Minns Labor Government has taken immediate action to ensure that fire ant carrying materials, such as hay, sourced from both the storm impacted and infested areas of southeast Queensland are now banned from entering NSW while the aftereffects are being assessed.

Until there is a consolidated understanding of the impact on fire ant mobility and locations in the infected areas and outside that region, NSW must firstly protect its communities, farms and landscape.

The Group Biosecurity Emergency Permit, which allowed movements of hay from lower risk areas in the fire ant biosecurity zone of Southeast Queensland under certain conditions, will be suspended for one month effective immediately.

To protect our primary industries the Minns Government is cracking down on the movement of materials such as hay, plus instigating increased surveillance and monitoring of movements across the border.

The recent cyclonic high winds, rainfall and flooding has disrupted fire ants in southeast Queensland and consequently people in those areas may not be aware of fire ants moving into their businesses and stored materials such as hay, soil, landscaping materials, pots and soils.

This follows the NSW Government’s suspension of turf being moved from Queensland Fire Ant Infested Areas into NSW from November last year.

The NSW Fire Ant Team has stepped-up efforts to prevent the spread of fire ants with proactive early detection surveillance across northern New South Wales. The initiative uses specially trained detection dogs and human surveillance teams to monitor high-risk sites to detect and prevent.

This swift response follows the surveillance of multiple fire ant colonies moving in flood waters in Queensland, within the Logan River catchment. While the catchment flows to the northeast and into Moreton Bay, the risk of mobile fire ant colonies being transported into NSW in known carrier materials is increased because they may appear in new Queensland locations. 

This suspension of hay movement allows the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD) to further assess the distribution of fire ants following the flooding events and clearly determine the current biosecurity risk.

Fodder material such as baled hay could be unsuspectedly transported into NSW without appropriate processing and endanger NSW primary industries.

Other materials such as soil, sand, vegetation and debris are also regulated as high-risk carriers of fire ants and must be treated and handled according to the Order before they can be moved into NSW from the Queensland fire ant infested area.

Surveillance will target high-risk locations identified through tracing of fire ant carrier materials, along with areas highlighted by habitat suitability modeling.

The NSW Government is committed to protecting the state’s primary industries and has instigated record funding for biosecurity, $945 million, and specifically for combatting fire ants, $95 million.

Since December 2023, over 390 record of movement declarations have been made for hay, documenting the movement of over 6,500t of hay into NSW.

Minister for Agriculture Tara Moriarty:

“We’ve all seen the images of wind and rain in Queensland, and this is making the fire ants mobile over the coming weeks. The temporary suspension of the hay permit is a necessary step to mitigate the movement of these highly invasive pests.

“The impacts of Tropical Cyclone Alfred are being felt in our agricultural sector in the north of the state. They need our support to get them back on their feet and don’t want a fire ant incursion adding stress and strain to their recovery.

“We have increased surveillance focusing on high-risk areas and are employing advanced tracking and modelling techniques, taking strong preventative measures to stop fire ants.

“Fire ants won’t march into NSW they will either be carried with materials such as soil, mulch, hay and turf, or fly in by natural spread from QLD. Which is why we’re ramping up surveillance in these high-risk areas.

“Biosecurity is everyone’s responsibility, so it’s critical that businesses moving these types of materials comply with the Biosecurity Fire Ant Emergency Order.”

NSW Chief Invasive Species Officer Scott Charlton:

“We know that fire ants will raft in water as a survival mechanism and move following rain and flooding events.

“The recent videos and images on social media of fire ants forming rafts are no doubt concerning. However, we know from hydrological analysis that ants floating into NSW is not possible.

“What we can do is mitigate the increased risks of human-assisted movement of fire ants from the infested areas of Queensland and suspend the hay permit.”