Disaster justice and the school as a critical social infrastructure

Abstract

The Australian school system is world class at natural disaster management. Protocols are well thought through, preventative, and responsive should a school be faced with a natural disaster, but there is little on the long-term effects on staff, students, and the local community. Research from Natural Hazards Research Australia (NHRA), while having a key focus on community resilience or the ability for a community to absorb the impact of a natural disaster, lacks the granularity qualitative research can provide. Current Australian natural hazard research largely ignores the community-wide effect of a disaster from the perspective of the school, nor does it address the possibility of this piece of key community infrastructure for building community capital before, during, and after a disaster. This briefing paper summarises research into the social impact schools have to manage after a natural disaster. This paper highlights the need for Australian research into the social consequences of natural disasters and the key role education research can play.