Insurance Council of Australia

Building resilience

ICA Welcomes Federal Budget’s Disaster Mitigation Funding

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ICA Welcomes Federal Budget's Disaster Mitigation Funding

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News release

Tuesday, 11 May 2021

The Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) tonight welcomed the 2021-22 Federal Budget as an historic Commonwealth commitment to funding resilience and mitigation measures to better protect vulnerable Australian communities against natural disasters.

The ICA and insurers have been calling for increased investment in resilience and mitigation measures for more than a decade, and the Morrison Government has tonight provided an allocation of $1.2 billion over five years to improve Australia’s capability to prepare for, respond to, and recover from natural disasters.

Insurers welcome investments in the future success of vulnerable communities, including $600 million for new disaster preparation and mitigation programs as part of the establishment of the new National Recovery and Resilience Agency (NRRA) and $40 million to make strata buildings in northern Australia more resilient to extreme weather events. To get maximum return from this investment the ICA calls on state and territory governments to match the Federal Government’s funding in their own jurisdictions.

The natural disaster response package also includes $280 million over three years for projects in bushfire affected areas as part of the National Bushfire Recovery Fund, $210 million to establish the Australian Climate Service to help inform risk reduction and resilience investments, and $90 million for national disaster management funding.

Along with the new NRRA funding, the Budget commitment to underwrite a $10 billion reinsurance scheme for cyclone and related flood for privately-owned homes, strata corporations and small businesses has been welcomed by insurers, who are committed to working with the Government on the design and implementation of the scheme.  

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

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg’s third budget is good news for delivering a community more resilient to the risks of natural disasters.

The Productivity Commission’s estimate that 97 per cent of all disaster funding in Australia is spent after an event, with just three per cent spent on mitigation measures ahead of a disaster, shows that the Federal Government’s commitments are an historic first step towards redressing that imbalance.

The ICA in particular thanks Assistant Treasurer Michael Sukkar for the constructive way he has worked with insurers, particularly on short, medium and long term measures to improve affordability and availability of insurance.

Insurers look forward to working with the Government and other stakeholders on the design and implementation of the cyclone reinsurance pool ahead of its implementation mid-2022.

PDF ICA welcomes Federal Budget

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Better resilience information tools and incentives needed to protect new homes in natural disasters

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Better resilience information tools and incentives needed to protect new homes in natural disasters

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News release

Wednesday 21 April 2021

The Building Stronger Homes Roundtable convened by the Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) and Master Builders Australia (MBA) has recommended reforms to the way codes, standards and land use planning systems promote the resilience of Australian family homes.

The aim of the Roundtables is for both industries to lead the discussion on policy changes that make buildings more resilient.

The third Building Stronger Homes Roundtable took place yesterday at NSW Parliament House in Sydney with the theme New Builds, Codes, Standards and Land Use Planning. The Hon. Kevin Anderson, NSW Minister for Better Regulation addressed the event, which was attended by representatives from state and federal government departments, Standards Australia, and the Australian Building Codes Board as well as the property, real estate and architecture industries.

  • Recommendations include:
  • Simpler and cost-effective access to standards for builders and inspectors to support compliance.
  • Land use planning reforms that better incorporate the experience and insights of the building and insurance industries in the aftermath of natural disasters.
  • Increased government incentives to invest in resilience measures when building new homes to improve the durability of homes.
  • Development of resilience information tools that can assist industry and consumers to build more resilient homes.
  • Establishment of an information sharing hub between government and industry to share risk information, land planning data and building experience.

ICA CEO Andrew Hall said improved resilience will only be achieved with increased collaboration between industry, government and the community.

“While new homes need to be built to be more resilient, it is imperative they remain affordable and that new homeowners are able to enter the market.

“At present, there is no system in place in Australia to assess and record the level of resilience in a building, making it difficult for insurers to adjust premiums accordingly,” Mr Hall said.

MBA CEO Denita Wawn said the building industry and the insurance industry agree that sharing data and information are key to developing understanding of the needs of building resilience.

“Data can better support informed decision making by government, particularly in relation to land use planning.

“We would like to see the building industry and the insurance industry formally included as part of the consultation processes of the Australian Building Codes Board and Standards Australia to improve information sharing and provide practical industry insights in relation to future reforms,” Ms Wawn said.

The final Building Stronger Homes Roundtable will be held in June 2021.

-ENDS-

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Building Resilience Rating Tool (BRRT)

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Building Resilience Rating Tool (BRRT)

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Measuring and disclosing the resilience of homes to natural hazards

The BRRT informs homeowners about the exposure and vulnerability of their property and encourages action to increase resilience and reduce the potential damage/loss from natural hazard events in a climate changed future. The BRRT increases the knowledge and awareness of the homeowner to the risks of climate change and a changing natural hazard profile.

The BRRT has been developed by the ICA over a decade as part of a broad set of initiatives to disclose risk information to the customer about property, and encourage consideration of risks as part of due diligence during property sale transactions.

The BRRT draws information from the ICA data and uses details entered by the customer to calculate a resilience rating from 1 (brittle) to 5 (resilient).

Objective

A key objective is to have the BRRT incorporated into a third-party rating scheme and drive leading practice resilient building (adapting homes to climate change). This is being delivered through the ICA’s partnership with the Green Building Council of Australia on The Future Homes initiative.

Relationship/Partnerships

The BRRT has been developed over the course of 10 years and used in a series of initiatives to measure and guide the development of more resilient communities. There have been many partnerships with local governments, and the latest partnership with the Green Building Council of Australia sees us working with volume home builders.

The BRRT is currently under development in the “Early Access” phase of Green Star for homes.

Success Metric

A third-party certification for resilient homes.

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Building Stronger Homes third Roundtable

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Building Stronger Homes third Roundtable

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News release

Sunday 18 April 2021

The Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) and Master Builders Australia (MBA) will host the third Building Stronger Homes Roundtable at NSW Parliament House on Tuesday 20 April 2021.

The ICA and MBA convened the Roundtable series so both industries could lead the discussion on policy changes to make Australian homes more resilient.

The third Roundtable will focus on ways we can build new homes to better withstand extreme weather. The event will be attended by representatives from the property, real estate and architecture industries with guest speakers and panellists from the NSW Government, Standards Australia, Australian Building Codes Board, IAG and Sherridon Homes.

The forum will provide the building, insurance and aligned sectors the opportunity to identify initiatives to better protect homes.

The success of building resilience reform efforts requires effective and workable improvements to codes, standards and best practice information. Input from industry is critical to making this happen and bringing about a better system.

A better system is needed to mitigate disaster risk and safeguard consumers but must also support a sustainable building and construction industry.

Implementing the Building Confidence Report is critical to address compliance and enforcement processes in the building industry. Commitments from the Building Ministers to implement consistent reform responses in their jurisdictions will underpin the success of reforms to Codes and Standards.

ICA CEO Andrew Hall said the National Construction Code (NCC) needs to incorporate resilience as one of its objectives and adopt a position of improving the durability of homes into the future.

“Reducing the risk from the outset by ensuring the Codes and Standards take into account the resilience of homes, mitigation, infrastructure improvements and other measures will help to enhance national disaster resilience and recovery,” Mr Hall said.

MBA CEO Denita Wawn said it is important that reforms to land planning are also made across the country to ensure homes are able to withstand the local natural hazard risks.

“Local and State Governments need to work together to reform their planning frameworks so there is better guidance for home owners about local natural hazard risks and what they can do to mitigate these,” Ms Wawn said.

The fourth and final Building Stronger Homes Roundtable will be held in June 2021.

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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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