Bushfires disproportionately impact Indigenous Australians

Devastation in Morton National Park on the traditional Country of the Yuin people. Credit: ANU - First Nations Australians suffered worse impacts from the Black Summer bushfires due to in appropriate planning and unsuitable interventions by authorities during the crisis, researchers at The Australian National University (ANU) argue. The researchers have published a report examining the first-hand experiences of Indigenous Australians during the 2019-2020 bushfires, and say the findings are also reflected in the current northern New South Wales floods. Indigenous Australians experienced racism and unfair treatment in the face of the bushfire catastrophe, in addition to loss of home, land and lives, the ANU researchers found. The new paper from the ANU Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research argues that "at the height of the [bushfire] crisis, stories emerged of culturally unsafe and unwelcoming relief and recovery services". The paper highlights the requirement of Aboriginal communities and organisations to step up and evacuate community members, provide immediate support, and take steps to protect their cultural and heritage values.   "So many Aboriginal people were affected by the bushfires.