Too little, too late: Australia’s disaster response has been … a disaster

Like thousands of others, the home of Lismore resident Lucy Wise and her family has been deemed uninhabitable. They face the gruelling decision of rebuilding or moving. Photograph: Elise Derwin

Since Ruth Haggar lost her home in the New South Wales town of Quaama in the Black Summer bushfires more than two years ago, she has wanted a single, local source of help.

“You’ve got fire brain, you’re traumatised, you’re running on adrenaline, you’re filling out a bunch of paperwork, you’re running after this grant and that grant, you’re sitting in queues,” she says.