On this page you'll find frequently asked questions about BirdLife Australia, including donations, membership and communication preferences.
If you’ve spotted an unfamiliar bird and would like some help identifying it, our bird finder tool can help.
Thank you for your interest! Volunteers are the lifeblood of BirdLife Australia’s conservation work, and our volunteers come from all backgrounds, ages and experiences. If you’d like to help us make a difference, we can guide you towards the right volunteering opportunity for you.
To become a volunteer, check out our volunteer listing page.
Yes, BirdLife Australia is a registered charity and is endorsed as a Deductible Gift Recipient (DGR) with the Australian Taxation Office. This means we are entitled to receive donations (gifts) which are deductible from the donor’s income tax.
Yes, all donations of $2 or more are tax deductible for Australian taxpayers.
In Australia, charities must be registered with the Australian Government’s Australian Charities and Not-for-profit Commission (ACNC). You can check BirdLife Australia’s registration here: https://www.acnc.gov.au/charity.
BirdLife Australia is also a member of the Fundraising Institute of Australia, the national peak body for professional fundraising in Australia. We adhere to the FIA’s Code around best practice fundraising, which you can read more about here: https://fia.org.au/fiacode/.
Please be assured that our team works ethically and adheres to Australian privacy legislation and the highest levels of security possible. Any donations made via phone or post are handled and stored securely, and any online donations are encrypted from the moment you enter your credit card information.
For more information, please see our privacy policy.
Thank you so much for your support to help save Australia’s threatened birds! There are a number of ways you can make a donation:
Online: please visit birdlife.org.au/donate
Over the phone: please call us on (03) 9347 0757 and then press 4 for support to speak with a friendly team member or leave a message with your details. Please note that we have a small team and may not be able to answer your call immediately, but we will respond to your phone message as soon as possible.
Via the post: We accept donations via credit/debit cards, cheques and money orders. Please contact us if you’d like a donation form and post it to:
Supporter Care BirdLife Australia Suite 2-05 60 Leicester Street Carlton VIC 3053
This is an option we’re hoping to offer our supporters in the very near future. Unfortunately, our current payment and receipting system can’t be integrated with PayPal. In the meantime, our online donation page is a secure alternative.
If you would prefer not to donate online, you are welcome to call us to donate over the phone, or you may prefer to send us a cheque or money order in the post.
We encourage you to use one of the other donation methods listed above (online, phone or post) where possible, but if none of those options suits you, we can accept donations by direct bank transfer. Please email us at donations@birdlife.org.au or phone us on (03) 9347 0757 then press 4 for support to request our bank account details and to receive instructions about how to make your donation by bank transfer. Please note that there may be delays in receipting your donation by direct bank transfer.
Yes, you will receive a receipt for your donation, and all donations of $2 or more are tax-deductible in Australia. If you donated online, your receipt will be emailed to you within 72 hours, to the email address you provided with your donation. If you have sent a donation to us via the post, we will send your receipt via post or email as soon as your donation has been processed, according to your indicated preference.
If you donate monthly or annually, your donation will be receipted after the end of each financial year. We will send your consolidated annual receipt by email or post as soon as possible after 30 June. If you haven’t received your receipt by the end of July and need a copy urgently to complete your tax return, please email us at donations@birdlife.org.au or phone us on (03) 9347 0757 then press 4 for support.
If you have lost your donation receipt or require another copy, please contact the team at support@birdlife.org.au and we will send you a copy as soon as possible (please check the ‘spam’ or ‘junk’ folder of your email first, especially if your donation was made online, in case your e-receipt has been moved there automatically by mistake).
Thank you for your interest in supporting our work to save Australia’s threatened birds with a generous regular donation.
For as little as $10 a month, you can join a special community of passionate people who want to support bird conservation, research and advocacy work to save threatened Australian birds by becoming a Wildbird Protector.
Your tax-deductible donation will be processed on the 20th of each month (or annually in the month of your choosing), and you will receive an annual receipt at the end of each financial year. You can alter your contribution at any time by contacting us.
To become a Wildbird Protector, simply click here or phone us on (03) 9347 0757 then press 4 for support.
By becoming a Wildbird Protector you provide crucial and reliable funding that directly supports stopping human-driven extinctions of threatened birds by 2032.
Our members are vitally important in shaping the future of BirdLife Australia and contribute to bird and habitat conservation.
For $79 a year, you can: stay up to date about our breaking news, special features and opportunities; receive Australian Birdlife, our quarterly magazine (see below); access online scientific journals for free; participate in the activities and events we run; enter our annual Student Awards; and have your say by voting at our AGM, standing for election as a BirdLife Australia Director or a committee member of your local BirdLife branch.
Membership to BirdLife Australia includes print subscription to our quarterly, award-winning, supporter magazine, Australian Birdlife. To become a member, simply join online here, or call our membership team on (03) 9347 0757 then press 4 for support.
Becoming a member is a great way to get involved with our organisation, learn more about our birds and the issues they face, and participate in the activities and events we run. Please click here for more information.
If you would like to update your payment details or make any changes to your regular donation or BirdLife Australia membership, please give us a call on (03) 9347 0757 then press 4 for support to speak with a team member.
Unfortunately, you cannot currently update your payment details online
We understand you might have concerns about privacy and the mandatory fields on the online donation form. We ask for contact details so that we can process your donation, send you a receipt, and get in touch with you if it’s necessary to follow up with you about your donation (for example, if a receipt is returned to us).
We may disclose your personal information to our contracted telemarketers and data managers to contact you for donations on our behalf and to keep your information current. We may disclose your name and address to contracted print companies, mail houses and other suppliers to efficiently send you information about BirdLife Australia. In all these cases, we take steps to ensure that those recipients:
These recipients (and their contractors) may be based overseas. We take all steps as are reasonable in the circumstances to ensure that any overseas recipient does not breach the Privacy Act’s APPs in respect of your personal information. If you do NOT wish for any of these recipients to receive your personal information, please let us know by sending an email to support@birdlife.org.au, calling us on (03) 9347 0757 or contacting us via the website.
Thanks to the generous support of people like you, BirdLife Australia is a leader in science-based conservation and has been successfully protecting Australia’s native birds for over 120 years.
As a charity, we rely on the continued support of generous people to undertake our vital conservation work to drive the recovery of Australia’s birds and restore their habitats.
Donations made to BirdLife Australia fund the conservation of threatened birds across Australia, supporting the birds which need it the most through:
There are many ways we work to save Australia’s threatened native birds. Your generous support will go to where it is needed most.
The majority of your donation will go directly to our on-ground conservation programs that are saving Australia’s birds. The rest is used carefully to support our science and advocacy work to understand the threats impacting our native birds and do what’s needed to protect them and their habitats. A small portion also goes towards the necessary administration costs needed to continue our vital work stopping extinctions. You can see the breakdown of funds below.
Conservation work to save birds requires significant financial resources. You may be interested to know that as a charity, our appeal letters are one of the most effective ways to raise funds to save threatened birds – even more so than emails. The reality is that if we did not raise funds, we would not be able to undertake nearly as much conservation work as we can achieve with the generous donations of our passionate supporters.
We receive a ‘charity mailing rate’ for our postage, which helps minimise costs. Every dollar we spend on our mailings results in several dollars coming back, and we achieve a stronger return than the benchmark for the charity sector. We watch this very closely, and we’ve been able to keep our expenses low in comparison with the generous donations we receive through our appeals. These appeals enable us to sustainably continue our vital conservation work to save Australia’s threatened birds today and into the future. If the paper-based appeals were not an effective investment and didn’t help us raise much-needed funds, we would discontinue using this method of fundraising.
We also use 100% recycled paper in our letters, and each one includes an easy ‘opt-out’ tickbox on the accompanying coupon so that we can update our supporters’ communication preferences as requested. Otherwise, we encourage you to get in touch with us at any time via email, phone or post to update your communication preferences.
Your request will be actioned as soon as possible once we receive your request.
Please note that we are experiencing considerable delays with Australia Post, so if you sent your communication preferences update via mail, you may receive another letter before we can take you off our list, due to the unavoidable time overlap. For changes to your email preferences, please note that it may take up a few days for your updates to be processed and come into effect in our system. Thank you for your understanding.
If you are concerned that you are still receiving communications by mail or email long after your request has been made, please contact us by phone or email to support@birdlife.org.au so we can work with you to confirm that we received your request, understand what you may still be receiving and ensure we can update your preferences according to your wishes.
Please be assured that we do not share, swap or sell your personal details. We treat your information with the highest level of care and keep it private and secure.
Thank you for your wonderful support of our threatened birds, and your interest in our critical work to save them.
For information regarding how BirdLife Australia uses your personal information for Direct Marketing, please see our Privacy Policy.
If your question isn’t covered here, please contact us via phone, email or post, and we will be happy to assist.
Phone: (03) 9347 0757 then press 4 for support.
If you are calling from outside Australia, please call 613 9347 0757
Email:
For general fundraising enquiries, donation payment or receipt enquiries (including regular donation enquiries), or to update your communication preferences: support@birdlife.org.au
For BirdLife Australia membership or renewal enquiries: support@birdlife.org.au
Mail:
BirdLife Australia Suite 2-05 60 Leicester Street Carlton VIC 3053 Australia
As a BirdLife Australia Member, you can:
BirdLife Australia Membership:
Special Interest Group Memberships:
When your membership is due for renewal, you will be notified by email, or if we don’t have an email address for you, we will notify you by post. Follow the provided instructions. For assistance, please contact our Supporter Care team on (03) 9347 0757 then press 4 for or email: support@birdlife.org.au
BirdLife Australia is committed to going ‘digital first’, making membership more accessible and reducing our impact on the environment.
Concession packages include the digital version of Australian Birdlife magazine.
BirdLife Australia accepts the following concession cards:
The main office bearer roles of Convenor, Treasurer and Secretary will require you to hold a BirdLife Australia Membership to be considered.
Options for previous Family Membership holders include individual memberships or a combination of Full and Concession Memberships. Please note that only one person can be nominated per membership.
Individual memberships:
Obtain a membership in your name only (one vote per membership package).
For other family members:
If another family member wishes to maintain their membership independently, receive a separate magazine, stand for office bearer or directors’ positions, and/or vote at AGMs, they need to take out a membership in their own name (each membership equals one vote at our AGM).
Shared magazine option:
If both family members want to stay as members but are fine with sharing a single printed copy of each magazine edition, BirdLife Australia suggests:
(Note: Concession membership is available to those who were on a family membership, even without a current concession card.)
One membership for shared magazine:
Alternatively, you can buy a single membership with the intention to share the printed magazine within your family. Keep in mind, though, that only one person can be nominated to hold each membership.
Taylor & Francis directly manage Emu Austral Ornithology subscriptions for our current members. Taylor & Francis will be in contact with you to provide instructions on how to manage your current subscriptions. For new subscriptions, click here.
Support ongoing conservation efforts with a monthly donation as a Wildbird Protector. For voting rights and eligibility for office bearer positions in the Board or BirdLife Australia local group committees, become a BirdLife Australia member. Members can also receive a print version of Australian Birdlife magazine.
Autorenewal memberships operate on a 12-month cycle. When you opt to set up your membership ‘Annually’ using your credit card or bank details, we will automatically deduct the renewal amount from your account once every year when your membership is due. Before processing your annual membership renewal, we will notify you via email or mail, depending on your communication preferences.
With an autorenewal membership, you won’t have to remember to renew each year. We will automatically renew your Special Interest Group membership(s) and your BirdLife Australia membership in separate transactions. If, at any time, you wish to discontinue your annual membership or return to manually renewing memberships, simply get in touch with our Supporter Care team at (03) 9347 0757, then press 4, or email support@birdlife.org.au.
Unfortunately, international mailing costs make it prohibitive to send print copies of Australian Birdlife overseas.
Printed editions are sent soon after release for Print members, while Digital or Concessional members receive an emailed edition. New editions are released at the end of each quarter.
