Poorer communities felt the worst well-being impacts from Australia's 2019–2020 Black Summer fires

The losses felt following Australia's 2019–2020 Black Summer fires were not felt evenly, with poorer and more rural communities facing greater losses in well-being, while economic losses were most severe in urban-wildland zones during peak tourism periods.

The study, published in One Earth, found that while government disaster payments temporarily offset income loss in some areas, poorer and heavily burned communities experienced more significant long-term declines in well-being.

Housing pressures increased, with rising rents and overcrowding in low-income neighborhoods, exacerbated by slow rebuilding efforts, underinsurance, and pandemic-driven supply-chain disruptions. The study also found that women faced a higher burden of unpaid domestic work after the fires.

More information:
Socio-economic Well-being Losses of Australia's Black Summer Fires (2019-20): Burdens by Burned Areas, Poverty and Gender, One Earth (2025). DOI: 10.1016/j.oneear.2025.101454. www.cell.com/one-earth/fulltex … 2590-3322(25)00280-5

Provided by The Australian National University