Nestled in the Croajingolong National Park, musician Justin Brady prepares a cup of tea over the fire in his makeshift home.
Carved out of the landscape in Victoria’s East Gippsland region, his surroundings show the level of ingenuity and resilience he has had to adopt since he lost everything in the Black Summer bushfires.
“I have heard this quote that it takes 20 years to properly recover, so I’m in the first five [years],” he said.
Surrounded by the blackened trees, which still bear the scars of flames that tore through the site five years ago, Mr Brady has managed to build a makeshift home while he waits for a more permanent place to lay his head.
With a fully equipped camp kitchen, makeshift music studio and even a tent for guests, it is hard to see where what is man-made ends and nature begins.
Justin Brady is using an outdoor camp kitchen while he waits to rebuild. (ABC News: Danielle Pope)
But for all his creature comforts and positive outlook, Mr Brady is still without a permanent home.
And he is not the only one struggling to rebuild after the fires.
Mr Brady said the amount of construction work generated by the fires had overwhelmed local trades.
“It’s a challenge … you’re trying to bring in builders to a remote area because all the builders in Mallacoota are pretty much tied up,” he said
“There’s just so much work to do after the fires, and they are under the pump too.”
Justin Brady has bought a horse float as somewhere to sleep. (ABC News: Danielle Pope)
Building backlog
Mallacoota builder Andy Harris has been working in the region since 2017.
He said it had been a difficult period for the construction sector.
“There was enough work to keep everyone busy before the fires, but once the fires came it was way too much for the local tradesmen,” he said.
“There were a series of things, from COVID to when the government put out a $20,000 grant if people built a new home, which virtually booked out builders for years and years.
“[It] meant that a lot of people who weren’t ready to build were put further down the queue.”
Mr Harris said local builders understood people were eager to get back into their homes.
“It isn’t a nice feeling going to work and knowing that the next family is living in a caravan,” he said.
“It’s been quite difficult — we are lucky to have work but it’s also quite overwhelming.”
Justin Brady’s caravan has been converted into a music studio. (ABC News: Danielle Pope)
A town almost lost
Swathes of eastern Victoria were decimated during the Black Summer bushfires.
A Victorian government inquiry found the fires destroyed more than a million hectares in East Gippsland and 316 homes, 127 of which were in and around Mallacoota.
There were apocalyptic scenes of people in a frightening red haze trying to escape the fire at Mallacoota (Supplied: Allison Marion)
The region became isolated when the only road into town was cut off, forcing locals and tourists to seek refuge on the beach as flames encroached.
Images broadcast around the world showed the sky above Mallacoota painted red as residents took refuge in the water.
Australian Defence Force evacuated 1,810 people — the largest-ever maritime evacuation of Australian citizens in a natural disaster.
An Emergency Recovery Victoria spokesperson said more than $600 million had been invested in recovery following the 2019-20 eastern Victoria bushfires.
HMAS Choules returns to Mallacoota for the first time since the crew evacuated more than 1,300 people during the 2019-20 summer fires. (Supplied: Australian Defence Force)
More disasters will come
Gippsland Lakes Complete Health deployed 25 caseworkers in the immediate aftermath of the fires and has continued to support residents.
It is part of the Alliance of Regional and Rural Community Health, a group of organisations calling for a more proactive response to disasters and dedicated funding to establish a permanent resilience team across 11 health services statewide.
Recent support efforts from the Alliance of Regional and Rural Community Health. (Supplied: Alliance of Regional and Rural Community Health)
Gippsland Lakes Complete Health chief executive Anne-Maree Kaser said the current response model was often fragmented and reactive, leading to inconsistent support and frustrating delays.
“Working in a scenario where response is time-limited, we lose skilled recovery-trained people from positions, and it takes an inordinate amount of time to get that support up and running post-event,” Ms Kaser said.
Anne-Maree Kaser says a more proactive approach to disaster recovery is needed. (ABC News: Bec Symons)
“It [a permanent resilience team] would mean that communities are supported by people who are experienced and trained in the development work [and] the recovery and resilience work that communities need in between events, and we keep those skills embedded in local communities instead of losing them to other roles.”
Mr Brady said without his local caseworker, he would not have been able to navigate the administrative maze of rebuilding.
Julie Parker with her dog Luna, at an evacuation centre on the night of the Mallacoota fires. (Supplied: National Library of Australia, Rachel Mounsey)
A long road to recovery
Julie Parker and her family have only just broken ground on the rebuild of their Mallacoota home.
The family moved to a larger block after the fires, living in a converted shed furnished with donations from other destroyed buildings.
Julie Parker is rebuilding after bushfires. (ABC News: Danielle Pope)
“It gets really crowded, it gets cold and it gets hot, and it’s not ideal,” she said.
It is a slow-going process for the owner-builders, with supply issues, costs and inevitable delays often meaning they have to reapply for permits.
Julie Parker and her family have converted their shed into a temporary home. (ABC News: Bec Symons)
Like Mr Brady, she has used the Gippsland Lakes Complete Health program to help navigate the rebuild process.
“I think we would never have been able to navigate the bureaucracy and the forms and the paperwork and opportunities, the funding and even the mental health issues that you are facing after such a traumatic incident,” she said.