Anthropogenic climate change has increased the prevalence and severity of natural disasters. The adverse impact of these events on mental health and wellbeing as well as broader economic and health outcomes has been well documented, however, there remains limited empirical evidence on how such disasters may impact domestic violence (DV). Using databases on unplanned wild fires and police reports of DV-related assaults (DVAs) in Australia from 1993 to 2019, we exploit spatial and temporal variation to estimate how DVA rates change in fire-affected regions, relative to their unaffected neighbors. We find that regions affected by bushfires experience an 11.0 percent increase in DVAs in the first 12 months after the event. The impacts were larger for rural and remote areas as well as those with greater socioeconomic disadvantage and less access to healthcare services. We also provide evidence to show that these effects are not driven by disaster-induced displacement and migration. Altogether, our results suggest that wild fires increase DV. Beyond the pressing need for climate risk management, disaster response strategies should consider targeted DV in fire-affected regions. Support should be delivered in the immediate aftermath, particularly in disadvantaged or remote regions with little access to health services.

Key Learnings:

1. Bushfires are associated with an increase in domestic violence related assaults.

2. Increased domestic violence occurs mainly in the first year after the fires.

3. Effects are more pronounced for rural areas and areas with higher socioeconomic disadvantage.