The ANU Centre for Arab & Islamic Studies made a contribution to the recent bushfire disaster by translating vital information on smoke safety awareness into Arabic, Persian and Turkish. Communities throughout Australia were inundated with smoke as fires spread in Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland and Western Australia.

Many communities were looking for information on how to deal with the ill effects of smoke inhalation particularly as it concerned children, the elderly and people with existing illnesses. CAIS language academics, Associate Professor Karima Laachir, Dr Burcu Cevik-Compiegne and Firouzeh Khoshnoudiparast worked with the Research School of Population Health (RSPH),  ANU College of Health & Medicine to produce informative flyers for the Arabic, Persian and Turkish communities. The translated flyers were attached to the RSPH initiative 'How to protect yourself and others from bushfire smoke' and were widely circulated in Australia.

These flyers will be available as a resource for future fires and provide general guidance for dealing with similar situations. CAIS Language academics worked closely with RSPH and ANU Media to ensure the guides were as useful and timely as possible. The three flyers are attached below.