Hi @Helen427
It's not compassionate at all if the house is going to someone who is NOT in need and thereby depriving someone who is a genuine case. I am well aware everyone is not of the same cloth, but I do not believe it is reasonable to expect hosts to try to sort out who is legitimate and who is one of those despicable people who is seeking to capitalise on others' misery.
The opinion I offered to @Geri26 made from very direct experience, unfortunately.
We had horrific bushfires, three times in 3 months, less than a few kilometres from my listing.
Almost immediately local hosts keen to help, who signed up for the open homes disaster relief scheme, began reporting a huge influx of requests that they were extremely dubious about - when they asked more questions it became obvious that the people requesting were not in any way impacted by the bushfires - they were just looking for a free holiday. Some of them came from overseas.
I have no intention whatsoever of giving a freebie to these kind of scum. Similarly I do not wish to place myself in the invidious position of having to "police" and cross question people applying for the opportunity. As I explained to Geri, when you are on the disaster relief open home programme it's announced in bold letters at the head of your listing that it's available for FREE, IF you are a bushfire victim, to ANYone who happens to be looking at it. If airbnb is so keen to help, then they can establish a regimen that ensures GENUINE cases - ie only people who have been evacuated and/or directly impacted - are provided with the ability to apply.
As a host I'm already willing to give up my listing for free - and potentially lose substantial amounts of income. I prefer to do so knowing with certainty that my home in being provided to a GENUINE person in need. Hence my suggestion to @Geri26, to contact an evacuation centre to ensure her compassion is not misdirected.
I do not regard being pragmatic as lacking in compassion.
The open home programme for medical relief and the refugee programme IS vetted and I have made my listing available to both these schemes since day one. For the record, since it appears my humanity it being called into question, I also offer my listing to Carers Australia which provides free respite short term holidays for carers of people with disability.
I do not require a hyperlink to inform me about the severity of the bushfires. Multiple relatives and close friends are actively, directly involved in the rural fire brigades, and a substantial number of friends and acquaintances have been evacuated, some of them repeatedly, in one or another of the multiple fires raging across many states in the last 4 months. I personally have been put on standby to be ready to evacuate twice late last year.
In any case, the hyperlinks you provide are irrelevant to @Geri26, who posted 2 weeks ago, as she is based in Adelaide, South Australia, not Victoria or NSW.
Regards