News May 1, 2020

Fire Fight Australia’s bushfire relief fundraising passes $10.7 million

Head of Content

The final numbers are in. February’s all-star Fire Fight Australia concert generated a whopping $10.7 million for good causes, entertainment giant TEG reports.

A long line-up of stars performed at the historic show at Sydney’s Olympic Park, from Queen and Adam Lambert, to 5 Seconds of Summer, Olivia Newton-John, John Farnham, Amy Shark, k.d. lang, Alice Cooper and many more, raising $9.5 million on the day and grabbing global news headlines.

More than $1.2 million in additional funds has since poured in, according to TEG Dainty and TEG Live, producers of the day-long show, with the full sum going to rural and regional communities rebuilding from the disastrous bushfire season.

TEG today broke down the numbers:

All concert profits including merchandise sales totalled $7.2 million. The sum was split between key organisations providing RESCUE (Rural and regional fire & rescue services in affected states, RELIEF & RECOVERY (Red Cross Disaster Relief and Recovery), REHABILITATION (RSPCA Bushfire Appeal) and REBUILDING (The BizRebuild program).

All donations made through firefightaustralia.com, or as Corporate Donations, during the telecast – totalled $3.4 million. This money goes directly to the Foundation for Rural & Regional Renewal’s FIRE FIGHT FUND to ensure local community groups can access support throughout their recovery journey, when the time is right for them.

All donations collected at ANZ Stadium during the event – totalling $5,900 — went to the RSPCA Bushfire Appeal.

The cash mountain is another reminder of what the music community can achieve when it pulls together, moves fast and unleashes its best assets.

And with that single, sold-out February 16 concert, the music industry raised more than the federal government’s $10 million commitment to Support Act, the largest sum in its care package to the arts sector.

Geoff Jones, CEO of TEG, says he and his colleagues Paul Dainty and Tim McGregor were “thrilled” with the final Fire Fight total.

Geoff Jones

“From all of us at TEG,” Jones says, “I also send our deepest thanks to everyone who supported Fire Fight Australia by buying tickets, merchandise, food and drink and by making donations. The money you have raised is helping rural and regional Australian communities that are still on the long road to recovery from the devastating bushfire season of 2019/20. As we face another huge challenge for our country with the coronavirus, it is a great reminder of the Australian spirit that always shines through when we face tough times together.”

Jones also paid thanks to broadcast partners Seven and Foxtel, and to the 23 acts and the 1,500 suppliers and volunteers “who helped ensure that we were all able to achieve this result by providing their services.”

As previously reported, the TV broadcast for Fire Fight was a ratings success, nabbing more than one million metro viewers for Seven and helping the network with the audience shares on the day.

A spin-off compilation album featuring performances from all the acts on the bill, Artists Unite For Firefight: Concert For National Bushfire Relief, went straight to No. 1 on the ARIA Albums Chart, with Sony Music donating all proceeds from it to support young Australians in bushfire affected communities.