Resilient Australia - Coping with Natural Disasters

Australia has experienced increasingly frequent, intense, repeated, and now overlapping shocks such as fires, floods, and drought. Coupled with chronic stresses including economic inequity, reduced levels of services in rural and regional areas, and social exclusion, these disasters have conspired to challenge communities across the country. Communities have little or no time to prepare, respond and recover from these events before the next arrives.

Health and Physical Education Lessons

The Years 7 to 8 HPE lessons will encourage students to understand the physical and emotional effects of natural hazards and how we can support our own bodies and others to respond and become more resilient. Students will analyse real scenarios and have opportunities to use their social and emotional well-being skills to apply empathy to those affected by fires and floods. The following HPE lessons and future resources comprise of two mutually reinforcing components — the principles and the environments in which resilient communities strive - which are designed to holistically guide teachers, community leaders and organisations in their work within communities. They are best delivered as a sequence of lessons to build students' understanding of the various artworks associated with natural hazards and the confidence to discuss the devastating impacts through the lens of hope and optimism.