Farmers and health professionals are calling on health strategy changes to help regional, rural, and remote communities and the emergency services that serve them cope with the aftermath of natural disasters.
The National Rural Health Alliance chief executive Susi Tegan said the federal government needed to start mitigating how climate change could affect the health and wellbeing of those living in the country.
"Climate change also results in mental health issues leading to anxiety and depression with people losing their loved ones, homes, and businesses," Ms Tegan said.
"Symptoms can worsen for people who are already sick with heart conditions, asthma, and lung infections. It is important to realise that climate and health are intricately connected."
She said bushfires and storms, like those seen in Victoria in the past week, displaced people long-term, posed infrastructure challenges and significantly changed the makeup of soil and water.
She said more than half a million people in Victoria had been affected by either storms or bushfires.
"Many are in temporary shelters and their lives are at a standstill," Ms Tegan said.
"They are part of the rural population who are already struggling with inequitable access to health care despite their contribution to Australia's economy.
"We call on the governments to rethink strategies to support these communities in recovery prior to disasters occurring and how these communities can gain access to the heath care they need."
SA pastoralist Ellen Litchfield has seen quite a shift at her station, Wilpoorinna, located in the far north region of Maree.
She said there is a growing amount of mental load that needs to be carried by farmers as more extreme weather events become the norm.
"It's not just a job, you know, it's a lifestyle and it's often generational," she said.
"There's a lot of pressure to succeed and continue, grow and have the business prosper, but it's a different environment, then, our ancestors who started the business on."
She said while farmers have adapted somewhat, natural disasters have greatly impacted communal wellbeing.
"We're seeing longer and hotter drought, but also we are better adapted to Australian farming than we were say, 60 years ago just through water telemetry, genetics, all those sorts of factors.
"But that also comes at a cost. We have a lot less labour, so there are fewer people in the community.
"Labour is the first thing to downsize in difficult times, and on our station, we used to have lots of staff and people living on different outstations looking after Merinos.
"We no longer have Merinos though, and only meat sheep along with cattle."
Dr Litchfield said technology advances and time-saving techniques could have "a good effect on the bottom dollar" but can have "a negative effect on mental wellbeing".
She said a coordinated approach in outlining a proactive national strategy was needed in high-risk regions.
"This isn't a region-specific problem. It's an Australia-wide and global problem where strategy is really important to make sure that we're not just throwing money in a sort of reactive fashion," she said.
