The public gift fund is overseen by five responsible people who are independent of WIRES management. In the charity’s proposed constitution, the gift fund will be instead overseen by three people appointed by the charity’s directors, and become part of company accounts.

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The rebel members are also unhappy with clauses in the WIRES version of the constitution that require members to reapply for membership every year, and allow directors to refuse membership without giving any reason.

The WIRES-proposed constitution also says that four of the nine board directors will be chosen by a nominations committee rather than members.

Professor Sandra van der Laan, an accounting expert at the University of Sydney Business School, said the changes seemed to be about control.

“I’m concerned about its governance,” van der Laan said. “The fundamental purpose of WIRES [is something that] everybody’s going to support … but it looks like the way it’s being run is of particular concern.”

Van der Laan said the gift fund should remain in a separate bank account, and she was concerned about “administrative expenses absolutely going through the roof”.

In the year ended June 30, 2023, WIRES revenue was $19.9 million. Most of that came from WIRES taking $15.5 million from the public gift fund, up from $12.1 million the year before.

Expenses were $16.5 million in the 2023 financial year, up from $15.6 million, including large hikes in accounting bills and employee benefit expenses. Yet, the money spent on wildlife rescue and branch support went down.

An estimated 1 billion animals perished in the Black Summer bushfires, and the WIRES fundraising campaign went viral around the globe. Obama posted on social media a link about how to help Australia during the catastrophic fires, which named WIRES as one of four recommended charities.

The WIRES fundraiser was also promoted by DeGeneres on her television show, on an electronic billboard in Time Square in New York, and by Formula 1 champions Lewis Hamilton and Daniel Ricciardo, and British food critic Tom Parker Bowles.

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Few other wildlife rescue organisations were able to raise money during the bushfires, and many are struggling. Byron Bay Wildlife Hospital, which was knocked back for a WIRES grant, is on the brink of closure. RRANA (Rescue and Rehabilitation of Australian Native Animals) Broken Hill disbanded in March, and WIRES informed members in June that it was in discussions to start covering the area.

Van der Laan said WIRES should have a plan for how to spend the $69 million in the public gift fund to benefit wildlife, but it was not sustainable to use it to bankroll ordinary operations.

WIRES responded to questions with a statement which said the board had consulted with all members over its constitution, and it had best practice and good governance at its core.

“WIRES willingly invests more money in wildlife rescue and rehabilitation than any other group in Australia – more than the federal, state and territory governments combined,” the statement said.

In 2020, the charity regulator found WIRES had acted legally and responsibly with its bushfire donations. In 2022, a board member quit over the fact that bushfire funds remained unspent.

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