About AWARE

Aware is a not-for-profit, volunteer wildlife rescue group called Australian Wildlife Assistance Rescue and Education Inc. (AWARE)

AWARE is dedicated to assisting sick, injured or orphaned wildlife that may otherwise be left to suffer or die. Whilst our wildlife is not owned by anyone, we are all responsible for its survival and care.

Our services to the community involve:

  • rescuing
  • rehabilitating and
  • releasing wildlife back to their natural environment

We are also involved in educating the general public on wildlife issues as well as keeping our rescuers and carers with the most up-to-date techniques via workshops and seminars.

AWARE has a large focus on seabird rescue as well as native mammals with many members having a diverse knowledge of native fauna.

Volunteers and Donations

Being a not-for-profit volunteer organisation means nobody gets paid!

We rely on an enormous amount of volunteer hours given by our members together with the generosity and good will of people who are willing to donate materials, goods and services to the group.

Why AWARE was Formed

AWARE was founded by a group of people who felt there was a lack of wildlife carers and rescuers in the area between Frankston and Melbourne. Dozens of trips were being made into the Bayside area every week to rescue animals in distress. This is extremely time consuming and financially draining. Many carers already servicing this area were getting overloaded, with many animals and birds never even making it into care.

AWARE was officially incorporated on 31 March 2005 and have since been actively addressing wildlife concerns with a major priority to increase rescuers and carers.

Area We Cover

“AWARE's main area of operation is Frankston to Brighton and it's surrounding suburbs including Dandenong-Cranbourne and Oakleigh-Springvale areas. AWARE also often rescues in the Mt Eliza and Mornington areas and are sometimes called on to attend larger scale rescues (such as kangaroos) well outside of this area.

Our group is also increasingly getting calls for rescues outside this area and require more active members to keep up with the demand (see our how to help section if you wish to assist) . We also respond to bushfire emergencies by sending search and rescue teams to assist the shelters in affected areas.