Resources for families after a disaster

Find free resources below to help families before, during and after a disaster.

For parents and caregivers

Information to help families cope at the time of a crisis. Topics include:

• children and crisis (PDF, 64 KB)
• teenagers and crisis (PDF, 68 KB)
• common reactions to trauma (PDF, 64 KB)
• coping personally: general information for communities (PDF, 58 KB)
• family and crisis (PDF, 66 KB)
• stress after emergencies (PDF, 66 KB)
• the stress of being under threat (PDF, 64 KB).

The Australian Red Cross has useful emergency management resources to help you and your family prepare for, respond to, and recover from a disaster. Some helpful resources include:

• Parenting: Coping with crisis (PDF, 945 KB)
• Supporting children and young people to cope with tough times with Natalie Fraser (YouTube video, 1 hour and 16 minutes)
• The ongoing psychosocial needs of children following a community trauma with Michelle Roberts (audio, 20 minutes)
• Phoenix Australia – Helping children after a traumatic event
• Emerging Minds and National Workforce Centre for Child Mental Health – Community trauma toolkit.

For young people and children

Birdie’s Tree Growing together through natural disasters resources supporting children and young people are available on the Children’s Health Queensland Hospital and Health Service website.

Birdie stories were created to help children manage their feelings and fears during and after a natural disaster. The stories have been translated in several languages. Printed copies can be ordered for a fee.

Information, activity sheets and games are available for families with babies and young children to guide families on recovering together after a natural disaster, covering the following topics:

• cyclones (PDF, 625 KB)
• floods (PDF, 722 KB)
• tsunamis (PDF, 536 KB)
• drought (PDF, 669 KB)
• fire (PDF, 516 KB)
• in pregnancy and early parenthood:
  • booklet (PDF, 901 KB)
• with babies and young children:
  • booklet (PDF, 2.7 MB).