Royal Far West Bushfire Recovery Program evaluation

The Royal Far West (RFW) Bushfire Recovery Program (the Program) is a multifaceted community-based intervention program. It was delivered through 25 primary schools and 12 preschools in over 30 communities in NSW impacted by the 2019-2020 bushfires. The face-to-face and telecare services delivered by a multidisciplinary health team comprising social workers, psychologists, occupational therapists and speech pathologists from January 2020 to July 2021 provided psychosocial support to children (0-12yrs) and key adults in their lives. The key adults included parents/carers, educators, local service providers, and community leaders. The overall aim of the Program was to improve the resilience and wellbeing, and decrease the likelihood of long-term adverse reactions, of children affected by the bushfires.

This Evaluation demonstrated that the multifaceted, strength-based, community-based RFW Bushfire Recovery Program effectively enabled children to develop their self-awareness and sense of self-efficacy, resilience, and confidence.

According to the Royal Commission into National Natural Disaster Arrangement (Commonwealth of Australia, 2020) and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (2021) report, natural disasters are predicted to increase in both frequency and intensity. Effective programs, like the RFW Bushfire Recovery Program, will play an important role in improving the resilience and wellbeing, and decreasing the likelihood of long-term adverse reactions, of children impacted by natural disasters.