Emergencies and recovery

The Royal Commission into National Natural Disaster Recovery was established in 2020 in response to the 2019-20 bushfire season. The inquiry focused on how we, as a nation, can better coordinate our natural disaster preparation, response, resilience and recovery efforts. The Royal Commission also considered what we need to do to respond to a changing climate.

The Salvation Army’s submission to the Royal Commission drew on our experience responding to the 2019-2020 bushfire season. We thank everyone who shared their stories with us and acknowledge their ongoing strength throughout this time. We also recognise the significant efforts of the first responders, governments and communities during the 2019-2020 bushfire season.

The submission identified ways that governments can support households and communities be better prepared for natural disasters and how governments, non-government organisations and communities can work together better to respond to a disaster on a national scale. Informed by our local and international experience responding to disasters, we also highlighted the need to support individual and community recovery through responding to family violence, providing accommodation as communities rebuild, providing employment opportunities and ensuring trauma-informed support services and mental health support is available in the medium and long term.

The Salvation Army continues to support communities affected by the 2019-20 bushfires.

The Commission’s report

The Royal Commission handed down their final report on 28 October 2020 and made 80 recommendations to ensure our systems can deliver a cohesive and unified national response to disasters in the future.