Insurance Council of Australia

Building resilience

Planners, builders and insurers unite to call for urgent planning reform

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Planners, builders and insurers unite to call for urgent planning reform

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News release

Thursday, 27 July 2023

State governments must urgently overhaul their approach to land use planning to ensure no more homes are built without regard to risk on flood plains, organisations representing planners, builders and insurers said today.

In response to the flood emergency of recent years, the Insurance Council of Australia (ICA), Master Builders Australia (MBA) and the Planning Institute of Australia (PIA) today, supported by the Australian Local Government Association (ALGA), convened the inaugural National Industry Roundtable: Land Use Planning and Resilience.

Around 60 experts from government, financial services, property, and community joined the discussion, which called on state and territory governments when thinking about future housing challenges, to urgently rethink planning rules so no more homes are built in high-risk flood-prone locations.

A communique from the three sponsoring organisations outlining recommendations for reform has been released and will be sent to planning ministers, who also met today to discuss this issue (communique attached).

The roundtable heard that all Australians are bearing the costs of worsening extreme weather events, and these costs are increasing because of historic planning decisions.

Attendees agreed that without reform, population pressures and inadequate planning laws will see further development of flood-prone land putting lives at risk, costing taxpayers billions of dollars in recovery and remediation, and adding to an already strained insurance sector.

Comment attributable to Andrew Hall, CEO Insurance Council of Australia:

The flood events of 2022, with almost 300,000 disaster-related claims costing around $7 billion, has driven up premiums and has resulted in affordability constraints for those at highest risk.

Without insurance, homeowners likely can’t access a mortgage, and that is the wrong direction for our country.

Today’s roundtable set out the actions governments must take to ensure future financial losses to homeowners, businesses and the community are avoided, and better government planning and investment is taken seriously.

Comment attributable to Denita Wawn, CEO Master Builders Australia

With a housing crisis at the forefront for many communities and a growing population, we must ensure that our planning laws are fit for the future and take an appropriate risk-management approach.

Governments are encouraged to take a balanced approach to development and resist a default of building out with alternative considerations such as building up to take the pressure off the housing system and supported with infrastructure that is more resilient and adaptable to extreme weather events.

Without fit for purpose planning laws technical building regulation will always fail. The housing industry needs clear and concise rules, that allow the industry to function and the community to have confidence.

Comment attributable to Matt Collins, CEO Planning Institute of Australia

Planning is a critical tool for influencing the level of future disaster risk, and our changing climate means we need to act now to limit the impact of extreme weather on our communities.

By adopting new risk-based policies and investing in better mapping and data, we can ensure development avoids or minimises exposure to flood hazards.

Australia’s town planners support governments taking clear action to ensure more climate-conscious planning systems, and this roundtable is an important step towards this goal.

Comment attributable to Councillor Linda Scott, President, Australia Local Government Association

Australia’s 537 councils play a vital role in building resilient communities, assisting in every corner of the nation to ensure our communities can better prepare for, respond to and recover from increasing natural disasters.

It’s crucial we rebuild damaged local infrastructure to a more resilient standard. Councils will continue to strongly advocate for ‘building back better’ to be a core value and overriding principle of joint state/federal Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements.

On behalf of local governments, I look forward to attending the Planning Ministers’ meeting.

Media contacts

  • Insurance Council of Australia Kate Davies, Senior Manager Media and Communications – 0419 723 196
  • Master Builders Australia Dee Zegarac, National Director Media & Public Affairs – 0400 493 071
  • Planning Institute Australia Matt Collins, Chief Executive Officer – 0437 938 077
  • Australia Local Government Association Brad Watts, Media Adviser – 0418 415 649

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Insurance Council welcomes $800 million NSW flood resilience package

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Insurance Council welcomes $800 million NSW flood resilience package

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News release

Friday, 28 October 2022

The Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) today welcomed the joint announcement by the Federal and New South Wales Governments of an $800 million Resilient Homes Program to make homes in the Northern Rivers more resilient to flood.

Today’s announcement, in response to the February-March floods that impacted south-east Queensland and coastal New South Wales and in particular the Northern Rivers region, is further recognition by governments that significant sums are required to reduce the risks of extreme weather events to lives and property.

The joint announcement provides:

  • $700 million to undertake retrofitting ($50,000 per home), house raising ($100,000 per home) or, in locations where the flood annual exceedance probability is greater than 1 in 5, home buybacks.
  • $100 million for land acquisition to provide local options for those who choose to relocate through the buyback scheme.

Updated insurance data released today shows that the devastating floods caused $5.56 billion in insured losses from more than 236,000 claims, with around half of the losses borne in New South Wales. The flood is now the equal costliest extreme weather event in Australia’s history, alongside the 1999 Sydney hailstorm.

The Insurance Council has long campaigned for increased investment in and attention to this issue, and earlier this year released its report, Building a More Resilient Australia which called for state and Federal Governments to jointly invest $400 million each year over five years to improve protections against extreme weather.

Today’s announcement follows Tuesday’s Budget, which formalised the Albanese Government’s commitment to its half of this requirement, as well as establishing a forum for cooperation between the Government and the insurance sector to address extreme weather issues.

It also follows an announcement earlier this year of a similar $741 million package jointly funded by the Queensland and Federal Governments.

Comment attributable to Andrew Hall, CEO Insurance Council of Australia:

Since 2019 insurers have received more than 577,000 claims related to declared flood events to the value of $8.8 billion.

Today’s announcement is a necessary and significant investment in better protecting communities at most risk of flood, and demonstrates that both the Federal and New South Wales Governments understand the scale and complexity of the policy solutions required to begin to address this worsening threat.

We understand that making a decision to sell a beloved home is very difficult one, but we strongly encourage all of those eligible for the buyback element of the Program to take up the offer and relocate somewhere safer and more sustainable.

It is positive to see that those who were covered for flood will not be excluded from the Program.

Perhaps even more important over the long-term than the funding announced today, we are extremely pleased that the Prime Minister has asked the Premier to lead a discussion with other state and territory leaders to reform planning in this country.

For insurers to continue to provide cover at an affordable price and for property and lives to be protected, not only is action required to strengthen the resilience of existing homes and communities, but we must shift our approach to what we build and where we build it.

We look forward to participating in this discussion in coming months.

 

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