This paper examines the relationship between flood exposure and levels of social trust among a cohort of adult men from refugee backgrounds who were affected by the 2011 floods in Queensland, Australia.

A quantitative questionnaire was administered to 141 men from refugee backgrounds almost two years after the floods. The survey was administered in person by trained peer interviewers, and included a number of standardised instruments assessing: respondents' socio-demographic characteristics; levels of social trust towards and from neighbours, the police, the wider Australian community, and the media; exposure to and impact of the floods. Multiple logistic regression analyses were used to assess the relationship between flood exposure and social trust adjusting for pre-disaster levels of trust and other potentially confounding variables.

Participants with higher levels of flood exposure were significantly more likely to report greater levels of trust both towards and from their neighbours, the wider Australian community, and the media, and they were also more likely to believe that most people can be trusted.

The research highlights the important place of social trust and social capital for refugee communities in a post-disaster setting. Disaster responses that support social capital among marginalised populations are critical to increasing community resilience and supporting recovery.