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Copyright of Australian Social Work is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Australian Social Work is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Posttraumatic growth (PTG) is emerging in the published literature as an important aspect of postdisaster recovery. Despite these research insights into the positive transformations that people experience, PTG has not been formally operationalised in postdisaster psychosocial recovery efforts. This paper presents findings from a mixed methods study of people affected by the 2009 Victorian “Black Saturday” bushfires. Data from in-depth interviews and the PTG Inventory-Short Form (PTGI-SF) with 20 participants gathered five years after the fires were used to gain new insights into perceptions of postdisaster growth. Higher levels of growth were reported by those who were personally involved. Thematic findings were consistent with most of the PTGI-SF factors. Additionally, growth through connections, the acquisition of new skills, and creative engagement were identified as core growth processes. These processes support conceptualising postdisaster PTG in broader relational terms, rather than more typically psychological ones, which may then inform effective interventions. IMPLICATIONS Many people report posttraumatic growth as part of their disaster recovery experiences. Growth experiences are diverse, and include the acquisition of new skills and connections as well as intrapsychic changes. Social workers can support growth by understanding the complex interaction with trauma experiences. Growth experiences may vary depending upon people’s personal and professional disaster involvements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Australian Social Work is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The existence and provision of emergency relief remains one of the more contentious aspects of poverty relief in Australia. This is largely due to a fundamental difference of opinion within government and the welfare sector about how to best tackle the financial hardship being experienced by people in need. Some contend that emergency relief should be expanded and better funded by the Commonwealth, whereas others believe it should be discontinued altogether and replaced by more generous social welfare payments. This debate continues unresolved for a number of reasons, including a lack of reliable and comprehensive data on who uses emergency relief in Australia and why. This paper reports on a State-wide investigation undertaken of emergency relief use in Victoria between 2007 and 2008. It has found that existing social welfare recipients—especially those on the disability support pension, parenting payment, and Newstart allowance—are the main users of emergency relief, who are living in households headed by a single adult, and forced to rent housing in the private sector. A disaggregation of the findings over both time and spatial regions of Victoria suggests that the level of need is not uniform. Several recommendations are offered to address the financial hardship that some people living in differing parts of Victoria face on an ongoing basis. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Copyright of Australian Social Work is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)