How a bushfire recovery worker continues his work during COVID-19

Instead, the National Bushfire Recovery Agency coordinator has been coping like many others working from home and using Zoom for meetings with councils and business groups.

"You do lose something because you want to be able to touch, feel, smell and sense it yourself, but there's also some benefits. These meetings have been really intense and a lot of ideas have come forward," he said.

"As we're doing more of them, we're learning what's effective and what's not.

"We're settling in for a few months of doing this so we don't want to lose momentum."

In recent weeks he has "visited" Lithgow in western NSW and Lamington National Park in South East Queensland, before dialing into North East Victoria on Wednesday and Thursday.

Next week he will move onto Central North NSW and is keen to get back to Kangaroo Island, all without actually travelling.

"Of course I would prefer to visit the region in person and see people face-to-face and see the damage and hear the stories personally, but in the COVID world we know the challenges," Mr Colvin said.

"The bushfire victims haven't been forgotten, they haven't been forgotten in a local sense, and certainly haven't been forgotten in a government sense as well."

A lack of tourism opportunities and a rise in mental health issues have been common themes across all the communities.

Read More: Farmer's struggle to rebuild from bushfire during coronavirus pandemic

Mr Colvin said it was important to focus on what "COVID-safe activities" can be done in the short-term, such as building infrastructure like bike tracks and walkways ready to promote to tourists when they do return.

"We've got to be positive about this and look at where we can still step forward and make sure that we're not losing sight of recovery," he said.

"We're all delving into the unknown to a degree ... There's a lot of anxiety and it's understandable with individuals and businesses not sure what the next few months means for them.

"Some of those businesses hadn't started to recover from the effects of the bushfires."

While mobile blackspots can often be a problem for remote communities, he said the Zoom meetings have gone smoothly so far and councillors have adapted well to the technology, even sharing photos and powerpoint presentations to make up for him not being there in person.

Indi MP Helen Haines said this week's virtual meetings had been a success and even though many people outside of council and major business could not be included, there had been a point of ensuring discussions with them were passed onto Mr Colvin.

She said she hoped those who had been stood down from jobs because of coronavirus, including casuals in local government who are not eligible for Job Keeper payments, could find new opportunities in bushfire recovery projects.

They also encouraged businesses to use the financial assistance already on offer.

"A lot of the individuals and businesses are not applying for grants that they may be eligible for because it feels like it's too hard or they've had an experience in the past where they've been unsuccessful," Dr Haines said.

The National Bushfire Recovery Agency will create a national plan for getting communities healthy again, but will break that into local plans tailored to each region's different needs.

And they will be linked to the coronavirus recovery.

"The COVID commission is in the same building as I am. I share a floor and offices with them and that's for a good reason - to make sure what they're doing is integrated with what we're doing," Mr Colvin said.

"We are only just now starting to lift our sights out of immediate relief and even saying that I'm nervous because there are some people who still need immediate support.

"We're starting to move now into a phase where we're looking at that longer-term recovery.

"From my perspective that looks like a five or 10-year plan, not a six-month plan."

The article first appeared in the Canberra Times