Bhiamie Williamson showcase

Are you interested in learning more about Indigenous perspectives of disaster recovery but wondering how to get started? If you’re not yet across the work of Bhiamie Williamson, you’re about to wonder why you waited so long.

Bhiamie is a Euahlayi man from north-west New South Wales with family ties to north-west Queensland. Over the last few years he has been writing and recording some excellent, insightful pieces about Indigenous experiences of disasters in Australia. His work has looked at issues including Aboriginal community governance in the Black Summer fires and experiences of Aboriginal people when accessing support during and after disasters.

Bhiamie’s work is an exceptional contribution to improving our understanding of how disasters affect First Nations peoples, how we need to rethink our approaches to community governance and how much more work we have to do to ensure that everyone has access to the support they need.

Some pieces that you might want to start with include:

Video – AIDR: Indigenous perspectives on disaster recovery

Video – ANU: Aboriginal community governance in the Black Summer fires.

The Conversation – Like many disasters in Australia, Aboriginal people are over-represented and under-resourced in the NSW floods.

The Conversation – Unwelcoming and reluctant to help: bushfires recovery hasn’t considered Aboriginal culture – but things are final starting to change

Submission to the Royal Commission into National Natural Disaster Arrangements.

You can also hear Bhiamie on the After the Disaster podcast.