When a local business reopens after a disaster, it can become a visible sign of recovery. Yet an open door tells us little about how the person behind it is coping.

Business owners may be navigating damage, disrupted income and insurance claims while managing the effects of the same disaster on their homes and families. Supporting their recovery requires attention to both livelihoods and wellbeing.

Financial pressures have a human cost

Research following the 2017 Northern Rivers floods in New South Wales found that 25.1% of surveyed owners whose businesses flooded screened positive for probable depression, compared with 12.4% whose businesses did not flood. Insurance disputes or rejected claims, and income that remained reduced six months after the flood, were associated with higher odds of probable depression.

These were screening results, rather than clinical diagnoses. The survey identified associations; it could not establish that these pressures caused depression or represent all Australian business owners. Nevertheless, it highlights the importance of recognising financial and administrative pressures within recovery support.

Reopening does not tell the whole story

A study that followed 561 Sri Lankan microenterprise owners after the 2004 tsunami found that improvements in business profits did not explain the progression of their mental health recovery.

Although this context differs from Australian communities, the finding offers a useful caution: economic indicators alone cannot tell us whether people are recovering. Restored trading and personal wellbeing may follow different paths.

What this means for councils and recovery organisations

Taken together, these findings suggest a practical direction for recovery planning: consider business owners as people with psychosocial needs, alongside their roles as employers and contributors to the local economy.

  • Connect business assistance with accessible wellbeing support.
  • Help owners navigate grants, insurance processes and referrals.
  • Offer opportunities for connection through trusted local business networks.
  • Continue check-ins beyond reopening and the initial recovery period.
  • Ask owners what support they need, rather than treating resumed trading as evidence that recovery is complete.

These are implications for practice, rather than interventions proven effective by the two studies.