2023 Lismore Flood Zone Community Outreach Study
In June 2023 Resilient Lismore partnered with Social Futures, Uniting, Red Cross and Lismore City Council to undertake a face-to-face outreach program throughout the flood zone in Lismore and a section of Bexhill. Over three weeks trained volunteers, working in pairs, went out into the community and door-knocked houses. They spoke to residents about their experiences of the February 2022 disaster and their recovery experience since that event.
The outreach study, conducted 16 months after the 2022 flood/disaster, had two primary aims:
- to ensure that residents were aware of the disaster recovery support that was available through the Recovery Support Services Program and from Resilient Lismore’s housing repair and practical assistance program.
- to gather data, via a survey, on the living standards of residents who had returned to flood damaged homes and the obstacles that prevented restoration of those homes.
Approximately 695 dwellings in the study area were door-knocked, and a total of 255 surveys were completed.
Of these, 46.5% of households had repairs to their houses that were either in progress or completed. 30.6% were still living in unrepaired houses, but had plans to repair. 32% of houses still had either no kitchen or a kitchen in poor condition. 21.6% of houses still had either no bathroom or a bathroom in poor condition. 27.9% of houses had no heating or cooling system, with an additional 21.5% of houses having temporary/small scale systems.
