Recovery Matters webinar series

Name: Recovery Matters webinar series
Start: 0001-01-01
End: 0001-01-01
Location: National

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Recovery Collection

Recovery Matters webinars get to the heart of key issues in disaster recovery. How do you go about supporting communities in recovery? What can you expect on the journey ahead? What about the support needs of particular groups?

Through a series of informative webinars, the Australian Institute for Disaster Resilience invites expert speakers to share what they know and help us move forward with disaster recovery. While originally developed to assist community recovery after the 2019-20 Black Summer bushfires, these webinars contain valuable learnings applicable to all hazards.

This series also includes in-depth webinars that explore findings and recommendations in the 10 Years Beyond Bushfires Report and features the launch of the Recovery Capitals resources and the Recovery Exercising Toolkit. View all webinars on the Recovery Matters webinar series YouTube playlist.

Recovery Matters

View Recovery Matters webinars

10 Years Beyond Bushfires

View Exploring the 10 Years Beyond Bushfires Report webinars

Recovery Capitals

View the Recovery Capitals resources launch

Recovery Exercising Toolkit

View the Recovery Exercising Toolkit launch

Recovery Matters

10 Years Beyond Bushfires

Recovery resources

What is disaster recovery?

Community-led recovery

Recovery leadership

Youth voice and agency in recovery

Family violence in recovery

LGBTIQA+ experiences in disaster and recovery

Navigating the financial impacts of disasters

Indigenous perspectives of disaster recovery

Putting the 'community' in community recovery committee

Experiences of children and young people: lessons learned from the 2022 floods

Recovery - its a long story. Launch of the 10 Years Beyond Bushfires report

Post-traumatic growth

Mental health recovery after disaster

Social networks and disaster resilience

Supporting recovery for children, families and schools

Recovery Capitals resources launch

Recovery Exercising Toolkit launch

Indigenous perspectives of disaster recovery

Indigenous people are disproportionately impacted by disasters in Australia. However, little research or practice guidance exists about the impacts of disasters for Indigenous Australians and how the recovery system can better support recovery for First Nations communities. This webinar provides research, policy and practice insights.

Webinar host: Amanda Leck - Former Executive Director, AIDR

Guest speakers:

Samuel Savage - Samuel Savage, Community Partnerships and Development Officer, Australian Red Cross
Bhiamie Williamson - Research Associate and PhD Candidate, Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research, Australian National University.

Webinar slides: Indigenous perspectives of disaster recovery (PDF 1.0MB)

Putting the 'community' in community recovery committee

We talk about community-led recovery, but how is it practised? Since Ash Wednesday, Victoria has provided a mechanism for community participation in the recovery process, through the formation of community recovery committees. This webinar highlights different practices and current research into the formation and operation of community recovery committees.

Webinar Host: Andrew Coghlan, Head Emergency Services, Australian Red Cross

Guest Speakers:

Malcolm Hackett OAM, Past Chair, Strathewen Community Renewal Association
Dr Kitty Vigo, Mt Beauty Keep Calm Committee
Dominic Sandilands, CEO Corryong Health and Chair Towong Community Recovery Committee
Dr Kate Brady, University of Melbourne and Australian Red Cross

Webinar slides: Putting the 'community' in community recovery committee (PDF 10MB)

Experiences of children and young people: lessons learned from 2022 floods

The flood events across Australia in 2022 have had a significant impact on children and young people, especially in education and mental health. In the face of such challenges, children and young people have shown their ability to play a critical role in preparedness, response and recovery.

This expert panel webinar spotlights the experiences of children and young people impacted by flooding, discusses lessons learned from the Northern Rivers region, and present tools and resources to help children and young people prepare, both practically and psychologically. The discussion was followed by a moderated Q&A.

The webinar included an opening welcome address by Senator the Hon. Tony Sheldon, Special Envoy for Disaster Recovery.

Webinar Host: Margaret Moreton, AIDR Executive Director

Guest Speakers:

Dr Andrea Baldwin | Service Development Leader, Queensland Centre for Perinatal and Infant Mental Health
Sharleen Keleher | Project Officer, Queensland Centre for Perinatal and Infant Mental Health
Adrienne O'Dell | Manager of Impact, UNICEF Australia
Sarah Eagland | Head of Community Recovery, Royal Far West
Michelle Roberts | Director, Australian Child & Adolescent Trauma, Loss and Grief Network, ANU

Recovery - it's a long story. Launch of the 10 Years Beyond Bushfires Report.

The Beyond Bushfires: Community, Resilience, and Recovery study was conducted to examine the impacts of the 2009 Victorian bushfires on the mental health and wellbeing of community members, with a focus on how individual outcomes were influenced by social connections and community-level recovery. This research was extended to be able to explore the recovery process and disaster impacts over 10 years.

This webinar launches the key learnings of this study over the 10 years since the bushfires and recommendations for how best to support recovery from more recent and future disasters.

Webinar hosts:

Amanda Leck - Former Executive Director, AIDR
Andrew Coghlan - National Manager Emergency Serices, Australian Red Cross

Guest speakers:

Professor Lisa Gibbs - Director, Child and Community Wellbeing Unit, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health Lead, Community Resilience, Centre for Disaster Management and Public Safety, University of Melbourne
Professor Richard Bryant - Director, Traumatic Stress Clinic, Scientia Professor and NHMRC Leadership Fellow School of Psychology, University of New South Wales
Dr Colin Gallagher - Research Fellow, Social Networks, Child and Community Wellbeing Unit
Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne

Webinar slides: Recovery - it's a long story (PDF 4MB)

Exploring 10 Years Beyond Bushfires: Mental health recovery after disaster

This webinar discusses psychosocial recovery following disasters. It examined how we might facilitate mental health recovery across a continuum of interventions that range in intensity. It discussed how a trauma informed approach is useful in thinking about recovery.

Webinar host: Andrew Coghlan, Head of Emergency Services, Australian Red Cross

Guest Speakers:

Meaghan O’Donnell - Head of Research, Phoenix Australia, Centre for Posttraumatic Mental Health.
Alexandra Howard – Director Disaster and Public Health Emergencies. Phoenix Australia, University of Melbourne.

Meaghan and Alexandra co-present on the range of mental health problems that occur following disaster, referencing the 10 Years Beyond Bushfires Report. They examine the trajectory of recovery and the stepped models of interventions, and discuss the range of training opportunities available following the Black Summer fires in Victoria. They also examine the research around the SOLAR program, a low intensity resilience program developed for disaster-affected populations.

Webinar slides: Mental health recovery after disaster (2.0 MB)

Exploring 10 Years Beyond Bushfires: Social Networks and Disaster Resilience

Social connectedness and social support are rightly viewed as essential for mental health and wellbeing. However, a much more complex picture quickly emerges in the wake of a disaster. This webinar presents insights and research findings from social network analysis in communities affected by the Black Saturday bushfires and discuss implications for practice. It also explores the relationship between people and nature, and how social networks relate to adaptive and transformative action to environmental change.

Webinar Host: Amanda Leck, Former Executive Director, AIDR

Guest Speakers:

Dr Colin Gallagher - Child & Community Wellbeing Unit, Centre for Health Equity, University of Melbourne
Dr Michelle Barnes - Senior Research Fellow and ARC DECRA Fellow, ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies

Webinar slides: Social Networks and Disaster Resilience (7.0 MB)

Exploring 10 Years Beyond Bushfires: Supporting recovery for children, families and schools

The issues that arise for children, families and schools play out differently in the immediate aftermath of a disaster, in the following couple of years, and over the long term. This discussion-based webinar extends the findings and recommendations from the 10 Years Beyond Bushfires report to explore personal experience, evidence and clinical perspectives on what happens for children and families after a disaster and how to best support and manage recovery.

This presentation is a conversation with panellists discussing issues for children and families in the immediate aftermath of a disaster, in the following couple of years and in the long term. Bron spoke about her family’s experience, Jane spoke from a clinical perspective to describe what can happen and how it can be managed, and Lisa spoke about the available evidence of impacts and support interventions.

Webinar Host: Andrew Coghlan - Head of Emergency Services, Australian Red Cross

Guest Speakers:

Professor Lisa Gibbs - Director, Child and Community Wellbeing Unit
Jane Nursey - Director of Clinical Services, Centre for Posttraumatic Mental Health, Phoenix Australia, University of Melbourne
Bron Sparkes - Mother, wife and 2009 Black Saturday bushfire survivor. Director, National Disaster Recovery Policy and Frameworks, National Recovery and Resilience Agency

Webinar slides: Supporting recovery for children, families and schools (1.8MB PDF)

Recovery Capitals resources launch

This webinar launches a new set of evidence-based resources for people and organisations engaged in disaster recovery. The resources were produced through the Recovery Capitals (ReCap) project, a collaboration between researchers, organisations and governments across Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand.

The ReCap resources are designed to support strengths-based, holistic and inclusive recovery approaches. They emphasise the interconnectedness between seven ‘recovery capitals’ – natural, social, financial, cultural, political, built and human.

Webinar Host: John Richardson, National Resilience Advisor, Australian Red Cross

Guest Speakers:

Phoebe Quinn, Research Fellow, University of Melbourne
Emily Campbell, Research Officer, Massey University
Bhiamie Williamson, Research Associate & PhD Candidate, Australian National University
Bronwen Sparkes, Director, National Disaster Recovery Policy and Frameworks, National Recovery and Resilience Agency
Kirsten Jenkins, Manager Health, Local Laws and Emergency Management, Maroondah City Council
Michael Donoghue, Disaster Recovery Manager, New Zealand Red Cross

Webinar slides: Recovery Capitals resources launch (PDF 3.9MB)

Recovery Exercising Toolkit Launch

In this webinar we hear from those involved in the development of the Recovery Exercising Toolkit, and from those who have put the Toolkit into practice. The Toolkit contains evidence-based guidance and specialised resources, templates and slides that enable those involved in planning and recovery with communities to follow a guided pathway in the development and conduct of a recovery exercise. We hear how a module that focusses on inclusive planning with people with disability has been used by council in partnership with a community organisation run by and for people with disability.

Webinar host: Margaret Moreton, Executive Director, AIDR

Guest speakers:

Mark Drew, Director, National Capabilities Program, NEMA
Wendy Graham, Project Lead, Recovery Exercising Program, NEMA
Megan Cunningham, Accessible City Coordinator, Community Program, Hobart City Council
Kimbra Parker, Manager Community Programs, Hobart City Council
Richard Witbreuk, Project Coordinator, Disability Voices Tasmania

Webinar slides: Recovery Exercising Toolkit launch (PDF 1.9MB)

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