Protracted internal displacement and the Eastern Australian floods

This research explores people’s experiences with protracted internal displacement following the 2022 Eastern Australian Floods. Internal displacement following disaster-induced housing damage, or loss is a growing complex problem globally and is predicted to worsen because of climate change. While this phenomenon generally occurs in lower-income nations, there is limited scholarly and political attention placed on instances of disaster displacement in developed nations such as Australia. This is despite Australia being highly exposed to natural hazards and has witnessed multiple mass disaster displacement crises in recent years. Current research on disaster displacement has not thoroughly explored these phenomena across diverse geographic areas, case studies, timeframes, or through empirical investigations. Furthermore, the foundations of displacement research are based on studies focused on displacement due to conflict, with limited analysis of variations in different displacement trigger types such as disasters. This study endeavours to address related knowledge deficits by offering empirical insights into prolonged displacement following the Eastern Australian Floods through policy analysis, examining drivers of prolonged displacement, and exploring people’s experiences. This research employed an exploratory qualitative multi-methods approach, guided by a transformative research philosophy and the theoretical underpinnings of the vulnerability paradigm. The findings of this research provide accounts of people’s experiences with loss, bureaucratic trauma, inadequate grants, and the nature of service delivery, as well as the long-term effect that displacement over indefinite timespans has on people’s sense of identity and feelings of hopelessness about their future. This knowledge provides insight into the realities of prolonged displacement and the well-being and identity impacts that it has on those who remain displaced and unhoused following the Eastern Australian Floods. These findings also challenge conventional notions of vulnerability underpinning the vulnerability of disaster studies literature, which suggests that economically marginalised groups are most likely to be displaced long-term following a disaster. However, the findings demonstrate that middle-income homeowners are also experiencing major financial burdens following the floods. This suggests the need for researchers, government and welfare agencies and disaster risk reduction professionals to recognise that pre-disaster poverty and low-income status are not always a driver for post-disaster displacement. When examining disaster displacement occurrences in developed nations such as Australia, governance factors contribute to long-term forms of displacement. These findings challenge conventional notions of vulnerability underpinning from the perspective of middle-income homeowners who experienced a major financial burden following their displacement. These homeowners would not traditionally be classified as ‘vulnerable’ under vulnerability paradigm conceptualisations. Therefore, these The findings also expand arguments underpinning place attachment research. Research suggests that displaced people experience a pervading longing for place, and their emotional health and well-being are affected when they must relocate following a disaster. However, some participants of this study shared experiences akin to developing a new-found aversion to their homes or communities, after experiencing the disaster. They also referred to being fearful of future climate change-related events and expressed a desire to leave their communities. These findings call for more research into the ways in which experiencing events related to climate extremes can lead to place aversion. Overall, this thesis contributes to an understanding of the role of government agencies in contributing to experiences of protracted displacement. This stems from limitations in pre-disaster policy frameworks that fail to account for the needs and rights of all IDPs, and government actions after the disaster that created structural vulnerability for IDPs as this case study informs. Based on these findings, this study has produced a conceptual framework on inadequate governance as the force that drove prolonged and protracted displacement for populations as in the case of the Eastern Australian Floods. It has also identified key areas for disaster displacement governance reforms across the Australian disaster management cycle that will work towards upholding the rights and needs of current and future displaced populations. Lastly, as this is an exploratory study, recommendations for further research are presented to address the limitations of this study and further contribute to addressing knowledge deficits in disaster and internal displacement scholarship.