According to the insurance industry, while we’re all impacted by climate disasters, people on the front lines are hit the worst.
According to Andrew Hall, chief executive officer of the Insurance Council of Australia, it’s time to take serious action to avoid climate disasters, and better planning and investment would be a good start.
Hall spoke after the inaugural meeting of the National Industry Roundtable: Land Use Planning and Resilience on Thursday alongside leaders from the Planning Institute of Australia and Master Builders Australia, the Australian Local Government Association and about 60 other related industry observers.
See our recent story on this issue here.
Planning was critical to a change in outcome, the group said in a communique distributed to Australia’s planning ministers.
The group said state governments needed to “urgently overhaul their approach to land use planning to ensure no more homes are built without regard to risk on flood plains”.
Below are the highlights of the communique:
Andrew Hall, chief executive officer of the Insurance Council of Australia said:
The flood events of 2022, with almost 300,000 disaster-related claims costing around $7 billion, have driven up premiums and have resulted in affordability constraints for those at the highest risk.
Without insurance, homeowners likely can’t access a mortgage, which 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 are taken seriously.
Denita Wawn, CEO of Master Builders Australia, said:
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 the default of building out with alternative considerations such as building up to take the pressure off the housing system and supported with more resilient and adaptable infrastructure 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.
Matt Collins, CEO of the Planning Institute of Australia, said:
Planning is a critical tool for influencing future disaster risk, and our changing climate means we must 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.
Councillor Linda Scott, president of Australia Local Government Association, said:
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 that we rebuild damaged local infrastructure to a more resilient standard. Councils will continue to strongly advocate for ‘building back better’ as a core value and overriding principle of joint state/federal Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements.