New year, clear space: a room-by-room decluttering guide
Start 2026 with less clutter and more purpose. Our practical room-by-room guide helps you declutter and donate items to charity bins near you.
Canberra Charity Bins, Op Shops & Donation Locations
25 donation locations from 5 charities. Find the closest bin to donate clothes, books, and household items.
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One of the nice things about Canberra being so planned is that there's a charity bin or op shop in pretty much every town centre. Civic, Belconnen, Woden, Tuggeranong, they've all got options. The city's 14 Vinnies shops alone process nearly 3 million kilos of donations a year, and the good stuff doesn't just stay in the ACT, it gets sent out to rural NSW towns too.
And if you've got books to get rid of, Lifeline Canberra's book fairs are genuinely legendary. People plan their weekends around them.
- Donation points in every town centre across the ACT
- 14 Vinnies op shops processing millions of kilos annually
- Lifeline book fairs are a Canberra institution
- Donations reach rural NSW from Lake Cargelligo to Eden
All Charity Bin Locations in Canberra
Showing 1-24 of 25 locations
Canberra Charity Donations FAQ
Where can I donate stuff in Canberra?
Every town centre has bins, Civic, Belconnen, Woden, Tuggeranong, Gungahlin. Most Coles and Woolies car parks have them too. If you've got bigger items like furniture, Vinnies has drop-off points at Mitchell and Mugga Lane. Lifeline's got a dedicated book bin at their Mitchell place if you're clearing out the bookshelves. It's honestly pretty easy to find somewhere no matter which side of the lake you're on.
What actually happens to my donations?
About 20% ends up on the shelves in Canberra's op shops. The Vinnies warehouse in Mitchell has 45 staff sorting through nearly 3 million kilos of stuff every year. Quality items that don't sell locally get sent to rural stores, we're talking places as far as Lake Cargelligo and Eden in NSW. So your old jacket might end up keeping someone warm in a town you've never heard of.
Inside the Vinnies warehouse (Canberra Times)What's the deal with the Lifeline book fairs?
They're a Canberra institution, seriously. People queue up before they open and come away with bags full of books for a few bucks. They run a few times a year and raise heaps of money for Lifeline's crisis support services. If you've got books to donate, drop them at the Lifeline bin in Mitchell. Quality fiction, non-fiction, kids' books, they take it all and it goes to a good cause.
Why do charities keep banging on about donation quality?
Because it's genuinely costing them a fortune. Vinnies Canberra sent 376 tonnes to landfill last year, up 67 tonnes from the year before. Their warehouse costs $3.4 million a year to run. Every time someone dumps their broken toaster or stained shirt, that's money that could've helped someone in crisis. As Vinnies put it, throwing out your junk "is actually costing someone a meal." Pretty sobering when you think about it.
Why dumping rubbish on charities is a real problemAny good op shops to browse in Canberra?
The Vinnies stores are generally well-stocked, especially the bigger ones in Belconnen and Woden. Salvos has decent shops around town too. Because Canberra's full of public servants who move around a lot, there's often good quality professional clothing floating through. The Fyshwick industrial area has a few larger stores worth checking out if you're after furniture or homewares.
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