Mallacoota schoolteacher, Jess Van Swol, lost her house in the Black Summer Bushfires at the close of 2019.

More than two-and-a-half years later, Ms Van Swol still hasn’t rebuilt and is living in a holiday rental in the coastal township.

Like many other residents in Mallacoota, Ms Van Swol's plans to rebuild have been hijacked by a perfect storm of events that have hindered, delayed and derailed reconstruction efforts.

This podcast begins with Ms Van Swol explaining how she contemplated putting a modular on her burnt property in which to live, but the emotional trauma of the bushfires discouraged her from doing so.