National Disaster Recovery Evaluations and Database

Name: National Recovery Monitoring and Evaluation
Start: 0001-01-01
End: 0001-01-01
Location: National

National Recovery Evaluation Repository

This collection brings together recovery evaluation reports to support sector learning and reference. It includes evaluations of Australian recovery programs funded through the Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements (DRFA).

While the collection highlights DRFA-funded programs, it also draws on selected evaluations from significant international disasters to broaden the evidence base. Together, these reports provide a consolidated resource for those seeking examples of recovery evaluation across different contexts.

Page update in progress

Bushfire Evaluation Reports

The Southern Queensland Bushfires, 2019

The Southern Queensland Bushfires and the Stradbroke Bushfires both occurred in September, and the Eastern Queensland Bushfires burnt throughout November and December. Additionally, fires in other parts of the state resulted in the merging of the bushfire events into one disaster event - Queensland Bushfires, September - December 2019. More than seven and a half million hectares burnt state-wide, resulting in the activation of the Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements (DRFA) for 23 of the 77 Local Government Areas (LGAs).

Community Development Program Evaluation Report

Flexible Funding Grants Program Evaluation Report

Mental Health Recovery Program Evaluation Report

Tourism Recovery Package Evaluation Report

Central Queensland Bushfires, 2018

Central Queensland Bushfires 2018 was an unprecedented disaster event for Queensland. The fires impacted local economies, including the agricultural sector, which suffered temporary losses of pasture and animal feed, disruption due to debris clean-up, and the destruction of on-farm infrastructure, such as fencing and water reticulation. Nine dwellings were destroyed and a further 17 houses sustained moderate or minor damage from the fires. Recovery assistance loans were activated for primary producers, while impact assessment continued to determine whether access to grants was required.

Community Development Program Evaluation Report

Flexible Funding Grants Program Evaluation Report

Rural Residential Recovery Program Evaluation Report

South Australia Pinery Bushfire, 2015

The Pinery fire was a significant bushfire that began on 25 November 2015. It burned approximately 82,600 hectares of scrub and farmland across the council areas of Light, Wakefield, Clare and Gilbert Valleys, and Adelaide Plains. During the most intense period of the fire, two people lost their lives, and 37 people were hospitalised, including five with serious injuries.

Evaluation report: Pinery Fire Recovery Program

Evaluation framework: Pinery bushfire Recovery Program

Tasmanian Bushfires, 2013

In early January 2013, hot, windy conditions fanned up to 40 fires throughout Tasmania. The main fire started near Forcett and caused significant damage to local townships, particularly Dunalley, east of Hobart, where more than half of the town's buildings and a primary school were destroyed. Other significant fire fronts were located at Lake Repulse and Bicheno. These fires were described as the worst in almost half a century for Tasmania.

Tasmanian Bushfires Inquiry: Volume one

Sorrell/Tasman Recovery News Edition 7

Victorian Black Saturday Bushfires, 2009

The Black Saturday bushfires began on 7 February 2009, during one of the most extreme fire weather days ever recorded in Victoria. On this day, temperatures exceeded 45°C in many areas, accompanied by very low humidity and strong, gusty north-westerly winds that rapidly spread fires across the state. Approximately 400 fires ignited, impacting 78 communities, particularly in regions such as Kinglake, Marysville, Bendigo, Beechworth, and areas in Gippsland. The scale and intensity of the fires were devastating, resulting in the loss of 173 lives and 2,029 homes. The combination of prolonged drought, dry vegetation, and dangerous weather conditions created catastrophic fire behaviour, making Black Saturday one of Australia’s most devastating disasters.

2009 Bushfire Recovery Program Public Land: 2012 update

Effective disaster recovery: What lessons can we learn from Australia's Black Sunday Bushfires?

Royal Commission Final Report: Summary, 2010

Victorian Bushfire Recovery: Four Year Recovery

Lessons learned by Community Recovery Committees of the 2009 Victorian Bushfires: Advice we offer to communities impacted by disaster

The role of the arts in rebuilding community: An evaluation of Arts Victoria's and Regional Arts Victoria's Bushfire Initiatives

Cyclone Evaluation Reports

Cyclone Yasi, 2011 ( and 2010-2011 floods ), Queensland

Due to the compounding nature of the floods and cyclone Yasi, the recovery evaluations refer to both disasters.

Cyclone Yasi developed as a tropical low north-west of Fiji on 29 January 2011 and intensified to a Category 5 system before making landfall near Mission Beach in the early hours of 3 February. At landfall, it brought destructive winds, storm surge, and intense rainfall, causing widespread damage across coastal communities between Cairns and Townsville, including significant impacts to housing, infrastructure, and key agricultural industries.

As Yasi moved inland, it weakened but continued to deliver substantial rainfall across northern and central Queensland. This rainfall fell over catchments already saturated from the prolonged 2010–11 wet season, contributing to a renewed phase of flooding across the state. Major river systems, including the Herbert, Burdekin and Flinders, experienced significant rises, leading to widespread riverine flooding, isolation of communities, and extensive disruption to transport and supply networks.

The flooding associated with Yasi compounded the impacts of the broader 2010–11 Queensland flood season, extending the duration and scale of recovery. Many communities that had already experienced flooding faced further inundation, worsening damage to homes, infrastructure, and agricultural production.

National Recovery Monitoring and Evaluation Database

Alongside the National Monitoring and Evaluation framework, the National Disaster Recovery Monitoring and Evaluation Database (the Database) was developed to support its use. The Database offers users a way to search outcomes and indicators that may be relevant to the recovery program design and/or evaluation.

The Database is a practical tool that brings together learnings from past disaster recovery evaluations. It helps organisations use evidence from what has worked before to design, improve and evaluate future recovery programs.

A user guide was developed to support people to:

search the Database for examples of recovery activities and indicators
find evaluations of past disaster recovery programs
access other relevant resources that can inform recovery planning, monitoring and evaluation

The Database draws on a wide range of past disaster recovery programs and evaluations, making it easier to apply existing knowledge to better program design, evaluation and learning over time.

The National Disaster Recovery Monitoring and Evaluation Database is designed to be used together with the National Monitoring and Evaluation Framework for Disaster Recovery Programs.

How the Database works

The Database is a user-friendly platform, that can be tailored to each user's disaster recovery program needs. The Database hosts Disaster Recovery Program Evaluations and identifies associated outcomes, activities and indicators.

The search page features a list of recovery outcomes, and a filter to further refine your search by event type, event name, jurisdiction, date, indicator category and recovery domain.

Once you have selected your outcomes and clicked ‘search’, the Database search produces a list of corresponding:

activities that can lead to achieving them,
indicators by which the outcomes are measured,
past Disaster Recovery Program Evaluations that aimed to achieve all or some of the selected outcomes.

If you would like to view all the Disaster Recovery Program Evaluations available, simply click ‘search’ without selecting any outcomes or criteria. Once the search page has loaded click the ‘Resources’ tab, this will provide you with a list of all the Evaluations in the database.

For further information on how to best use the database please download our User Guide.

National Monitoring and Evaluation Framework for Disaster Recovery Programs

Recovery program design support

Contribute a disaster recovery program evaluation report