On the evening before the January 18 fires, Di Butcher went to the Emergency Services Bureau.
In nearly every emergency the Child Protection Service of the ACT Department of Education, Youth and Family Services is on hand. Not only for children, but they also help adults after accidents, deaths and other traumatic events.
It was obvious that help would be needed with people in the ACT’s rural areas as fires swept through rural areas. She and six others from her service worked till late Friday night ringing rural people and were back at 7.30am the next day.
“Then our role became ginormous over a very quick period — a few hours,” she said.
On the Tuesday morning her boss, Sue Birtles, tapped her on the shoulder and asked her to manage the about to be established Recovery Centre. The head of her department, Fran Hinton, wanted it up and running by the Thursday.
The vacant former Lyons Primary School was chosen.
“I got there at 10.30 and got out of the car and there was nothing, absolutely nothing,” she said. “No carpets. No desks. Just an empty building with broken glass.
“Within half an hour and fleet of Totalcare trucks pulled up. What to want; what do you need? They were excellent. They worked around the clock. Furniture, computers, the lot.”
The first people arrived on Thursday.
“A lot of people had been living in the area for 30 years. Most were in their 50s with grown up children. They had 30 years of family memories tied up in their houses.
“We did not know the enormity of the task ahead. So we just worked day to day. Virtually everyone who walked through that door was shaking, trembling. People had burns. Black feet. People still walking about in the clothes they were wearing on Saturday. Some people had gone back to their house site afraid of looting.”
The Recovery Centre saw 300 families on the first day. They were wanting everything because they had nothing. They were on automatic pilot. The message via the media was this was the place they had to go to today. Most had never had to access welfare services before.
Ms Butcher said, “We thought, this needs to be special. We cannot expect 500 people to line up on the doorstep. The Salvos did the greet-and-meet. No-one had to wonder if they were in the right place. There was little or no waiting and people only had to tell their story and give their details once.
“People from every Government Department were there.
“The community have supported recovery centre since day one. Community wanted it work. “We had people asking all the time what do you want what do you need. The elderly population around here were providing food, fruitcakes biscuits and slices. They wanted to support the people coming in here.”
People were registered so the centre knew the extent of their loss, their insurance status and family connections. St Vincent de Paul provided clothing and furniture for whatever accommodation they could get. Anglicare and ACT Housing sorted out short-term accommodation.
At first it was provision of food, shelter and clothing. Then they sorted out birth and marriage certificates and drivers licences from the centre.
The Insurance Council of Australia and major insurance companies were at the centre. Some people had rung their insurance company and after pressing buttons and waiting with the music for 15 minutes they were asked their policy number and told to get it and ring back. So there was anger and distress. An independent insurance adviser was brought in.
ACT Housing was at the centre. Some people got rehoused with 48 or 72 hours. Each family got $75 a day cash and the government met motel or temporary accommodation. For some people that went on for a week or two weeks. Then the insurance kicked in.
Centrelink were at the centre. People could get an emergency payment.
“So bit by bit those people felt they had some measure of some control over what was happening,” Ms Butcher said.
“Some people stayed two or three hours. That was part of the recovery and healing. People were coming who had not seen their neighbours or friends until they met them here. They exchanged stories. There was lots of crying and lots of laughing. It set the scene for the way this place would be — that it was a community centre.”
The Commonwealth Department of Family and Community Services was also represented at the centre. Melbourne clinical psychologist Robert Gordon and an expert on parenting after disaster, Dr John Irvine, were brought into the team. The Recovery Centre established good relations with the media – The Canberra Times, ABC 2CN, the Chronicle and other outlets.
The centre funded by the ACT Government has also put out a weekly Community Update magazine in paper and electronic form since the fires. It has drawn on experts from Federal and Territory Government, business and the community to provide practical advice, updates on what has been happening with services to affected families and reflections from a wide range of people affected by the fires or those who helped fight them or recover from them.
The recovery effort was divided into four geographic areas: Duffy, Chapman and Kambah, the rural areas and Suburbs All Other (nick-named SAO).Each had different needs, according to their demography. The centre helped organise public forums and engaged in the core residents groups like the Chapman Residents Group and Phoenix. Representatives from these groups were invited to come to any training session the centre had for its staff. It was an inclusive rather than top-down approach.
“We have a different community in Canberra,” Di Butcher says. “We have a very articulate community, a resilient strong community and a well-informed community. We were conscious that any intervention we made had to reach people at the level that they were at. People were not going to be patronised. You imagine if you are an SES person turning up here to get some second-hand clothes. That is quite a challenge. And you are not going home to anything.
“We think they are in the really hard bit now. Reality has certainly set in about being under- insured and not being able to build the same as they had before. So part of our work is helping people come to terms with those sorts of decisions. You can’t stay immobilised. Families have to keep moving, life keeps moving; we know that. It is about getting people to look at the best part of what they have got so they can go forward.
“People are concerned about what will happen when the 12 months [accommodation allowance under most policies] is up. What is it going to take to help you make a decision? We have helped organise street meetings. If there are a group of people in a street who are struggling about whether to rebuild or sell and move, we get them together with Master Builders, ACT Housing, the Real Estate Institute and ACTPLA trying to get clarification of issue and to decide according to what is the best for their family.
“Most are still living in rented accommodation now.
“Some have moved three times. They are fragile.”
Relationships are under strain. Many couples we were planning to retire, perhaps at 55 and go off caravanning. But with under-insurance of perhaps $100,000, that option is no longer there. They might have to work for the next five years. Blame is cast on the person in charge of the insurance. It is traumatic.
Routine falls away. Takeaways replace home meals. Exercise falls away. Meeting with neighbours go.
One woman recalled how she was washing up and did not have time to put her engagement ring back on. She turned around and the loungeroom was on fire.
Di Butcher says, “I don’t know if people ever get over the shock of something like that. I don’t know if I would. That’s what we have to remember as professionals. You just have to try to put yourself in their shoes.”