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Insurance Council of Australia

Lessen the impact

Extreme weather doesn’t have to end in disaster

Images like these never get easier to see, yet they continue to appear on our news channels. And while floods, cyclones and bushfires can be extreme, it is possible to lessen the impact.

Governments can lessen the impact

Boosting investment in stronger homes and local infrastructure can make communities more resilient in the face of worsening extreme weather.

In February the Insurance Council released its Building a More Resilient Australia report, advocating for Australian Government investment in these measures to lift from $100 million to at least $200 million a year, or $1 billion over the next five years, matched by the states and territories meaning a $2 billion investment in better protecting Australian homes and communities.

Our report and the complementary research from Finity forecast this investment is expected to reduce financial, health and social costs to the Australian Government and Australian households by at least $19 billion by 2050.

How will this investment help?

Through investing in resilience measures, federal and state governments can improve the resilience of the nation’s homes and businesses to cyclone, flood and bushfire, as well as projects that protect the community, like levees, floodways, and fuel reduction.

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$200 million from the Australian Government matched by funding from states and territories is expected to reduce financial costs by more than $19 billion by 2050.

$1B

$1B

$19B

Reduced costs

What does this investment look like?

The proposed investment program has been developed in consultation with the experts, and includes:

  • $522 million for local projects such as flood levees to defend regional towns
  • $413 million to better protect homes against flood, Australia’s most expensive natural peril, by raising utilities and services above the expected floodline
  • $221 million to cyclone-proof more than 44,000 homes in northern Australia
  • $712 million to support the selective reduction of fuel in our forests
  • $37 million for an improved national flood early warning system, increasing the lead time for flood warnings from 3-5 to 10-15 days
  • $10 million to establish a national coastal hazard information database 

We can’t stop the weather but we can lessen the impact

Urgent government investment to strengthen communities will lessen the risk of worsening extreme weather. Without increased funding to make Australian homes, businesses and communities more resilient to extreme weather, coupled with a change in approach to what we build and where we build it, the risk profile of communities exposed to extreme weather will not change.

Put simply, the longer investment is delayed the longer the devastation will continue and the greater the cost will be long term.

Building a more resilient Australia

The voice for a resilient Australia

We are the representative body of the general insurance industry in Australia, shaping positive outcomes for our members, our people and the community.

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Acknowledgement of Country

We acknowledge the Traditional Owners on the many lands the people of the ICA reside and work. We respect and honour Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders Elders past, present, and emerging.
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