Australians are being asked not to leave donated items outside closed charity shops or full donation bins.

National Association of Charitable Recycling Organisations (NACRO) CEO Omer Soker tells Deborah Knight many charities are still open but the op-shops have been forced to close.

He says donations can be held onto until the shops reopen.

“It creates litter, we can’t use it, and then the charities have to pay for it to be taken away to landfill.

“Everyone who leaves an item outside of a closed shop, that’s one less meal a charity can provide to a homeless man, that’s one less counselling session they can provide to a teenager who is anxious or depressed, and it’s one less [opportunity to] help a mum with a family… if she’s facing domestic violence.”

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