Hope & Growth

Photo exhibition tells bushfire recovery stories of hope and growth

A call for photographic submissions to the Southern Downs Regional Council’s Hope and Growth 2019 Bushfire Photography Exhibition was met with resounding local community support with more than 100 extraordinary bushfire recovery photos submitted.

*Funding for this activity is through the Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangement (2018), a joint arrangement between the Australian and Queensland Governments.*

Speak Out Loud: Stories of Strength from the Southern Downs

“Speak Out Loud: Stories of Strength from the Southern Downs” is a community project sharing stories of strength and resilience as well as information about mental health and well-being that supports the communities of the Southern Downs in southern Queensland impacted by the 2019 and 2020 bushfires. Your host is Kathryn Walton, a Mental Health Social Worker based on the Southern Downs.

Season 1 includes conversations with local residents and health and community workers who generously share tips, strategies and resources to support your recovery journey.

Season 1 has been supported through funding from the Darling Downs and West Moreton PHN.

Season 2 includes conversations with local organisations and residents who help you connect with your local community and prepare for stressful events. Preparedness and connection to community are protective factors for mental health recovery.

Season 2 has been jointly funded under the Commonwealth and State Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements (2018).

Visit Kathryn Walton’s website for more information and resources about this project.

Learn more about the podcast

Alan Payne

Ryan Harricks

Belinda Cox

Photo taken of my husband (Aaron Cox - Crew Leader - Ballandean Rural Fire Service) after he finished fighting the Stanthorpe fires in 2019, then onto the Ballandean fire a few days later.

The fire started on our neighbours property and our house was impacted - the fireball and main grunt of the fire went straight over our house, cracking glass in windows, setting gardens, fence posts etc on fire. It levelled the bush in it's path...all the trees were laying down.

I took this photo after the main fire front had passed over and was allowed to join him in our house yard (I was tasked with the water trailer to watch for spot fires lower down on our property. I was certain it had taken our house it was that fast).

I was taking photos in disbelief of the enormity of what had just happened and how different the environment looked compared to just a few short hours previous.

Aaron literally sat for 2 minutes, exhausted, emotional and shocked with how the events had unfolded over the last week and how lucky we were. Literally 2 minutes (if that!) he sat and then he was back up, charging on with his crew.

If it wasn't for the response from our local RFS crews (some who raced from across town), local Urban RFS, interstate crews, Air Attack, police etc, our outcome would have been ALOT worse. ALL of the crews were already exhausted from fighting the main Stanthorpe fire a few days earlier...

Aaron's crew were actually on enforced stand down for the rest on that day of our fire. Not one of them showed ANY hesitation to be where they needed to be on that day - no sleep or not.

The community support went beyond human nature, it was just beautiful.

This photo holds a special space in my heart and became the image for all of the volunteers across our nation - heroes in yellow.

Bindi Cox, Wife of Aaron Cox -the most selfless human