What about the men? Men’s experiences of health and wellbeing during and after Black Saturday - Australian bushfires

WHGNE researchers in partnership with Monash Injury Research Institute are currently speaking with men who experienced the 2009 Black Saturday bushfires to inform future disaster planning.

Men’s experiences of health and wellbeing during and after Black Saturday evolved from concerns from women and workers about men’s coping, or not coping after Black Saturday. There is a lack of information in this area globally and nationally, and current disaster risk management practices do not incorporate a specific focus on men in their work with disaster resilience.

Despite the visible devastation wrought by Black Saturday, the full extent of the bushfire impact is often not fully recognised immediately or in the months following such a disaster. While much has been said about men, this research gives men the opportunity to speak about their own experiences.

In November 2013, the key learnings and recommendations from the ‘What about the men?’ research—told in men’s own words—will be presented at the Just ask: Experiences of men after disaster Conference.

A new report to be launched at this Australian conference debunks popular myths that men ‘don’t talk’ and shows how in the aftermath of the 2009 Victorian fires, government, agency and community responses, for many men, exacerbated the trauma of the fires. Four years later, men report they continue to experience the consequences of the fires – often in isolation. Some men have become reclusive, some have never regained employment, and many are still living and reliving the emotions provoked by the disaster, including anger at others and at authorities.