Monash University has undertaken a twenty-year running investigation into the health effects of the Hazelwood mine fire.

The Hazelwood fire blazed in an open-cut coal mine near the Victorian town of Morwell, burning for 45 days across February and March this year.

Many Morwell residents were outraged at what they saw as a poor response by the Victorian Government, with the fire burning for some time before evacuation was suggested, but not enforced.

Now, researchers will spend more than two decades looking at what happens to Morwell residents who were exposed to high levels of air pollution.

Lead researcher, Monash University’s Professor Michael Abramson said the plan involves selecting people to participate in a cardiac study, a respiratory study and a psychological study.

The studies are the result of recommendation made by the Victorian Government’s Hazelwood Mine Fire Inquiry, whose initial reporting found relocation advice was given much too late.

The report also said there were “significant shortcomings” in the overall communication with residents, with many feeling information was contradictory, sometimes irrelevant and lacked empathy.

The board said the mine's operator, GDF Suez, was “noticeably absent” and failed to communicate helpfully while the fire burned.

Victoria's Health Minister David Davis says that while the study will take over 20 years, it “is good science, but it will also enable the community to have their say on these matters.”

“I think the community will feel that this is the right way forward,” he said.

This article plots the Hazelwood fire as it unfurled earlier this year.