Policy
Council of Australian Governments Review - Natural Disasters in Australia
In September 2000, after a fatal landslide in Thredbo in 1997 and extensive damage caused by a hailstorm in Sydney in 1999, two reports (103 and 106) were produced for Emergency Management Australia. They were prepared by the Bureau of Transport and Regional Economics and included an estimate of the economic cost of natural disasters in Australia in a report titled Economic Costs of Natural Disasters in Australia (BTE, 2001) and a report titled Picture of Hazards and Risks for Australia (Handmer, 2000).
The preliminary findings of these investigations led to a much wider review of Australia’s approach to dealing with natural disaster mitigation as well as any response during an event and post disaster relief and recovery. The Review of Disaster Relief and Mitigation was commissioned by the Council of Australian Governments on 8 June 2001.
The review, which was conducted by representatives from the Australian, State and Territory governments and local government, encompassed all elements of natural disaster management including:
- The objectives of the current arrangements;
- the appropriateness, effectiveness and scope of disaster mitigation programs and arrangements;
- the appropriateness and effectiveness of disaster relief arrangements and the identification of any gaps;
- roles and responsibilities;
- the policy-making machinery for all elements of natural disaster management; and
- options for improving existing arrangements.
The review concluded that a new approach to natural disasters in Australia was needed. The new direction would aim at creating safer, more sustainable Australian communities while reducing risk, damage and losses from natural disasters in the future. This approach involves a fundamental shift in focus beyond relief and recovery towards cost-effective, evidence-based disaster mitigation. The review received an out of session endorsement by the Council of Australian Governments in December 2003.
The review report provided to the Council of Australian Governments is titled Natural Disasters in Australia: reforming mitigation, relief and recovery arrangements and contains 66 recommendations and 12 reform commitments.
A commentary on this report by the Department of Transport and Regional Services titledMeeting the Natural Disasters Challenge.
Reference
Handmer, J. 2000. National Picture of Hazards and Risks for Australia, Prepared for the Department of Transport and Regional Services, (RFT No. 2000/0381), Canberra.
Disaster Mitigation Australia Package
The centrepiece of the endorsement of the Council of Australian Governments report is the comprehensive five year Disaster Mitigation Australia Package. It is the first initiative of its kind in Australia and is jointly funded by the Australian, State and Territory Governments as well as local government. Up to A$75 million per year is available nationally to fund the 12 reform commitments which include areas such as:
- Disaster risk assessments;
- nationally consistent data and research;
- disaster mitigation strategies;
- resilient infrastructure; and
- community awareness and warnings.
The Disaster Mitigation Australia Package incorporates the Natural Disaster Mitigation Programme, the Natural Disaster Relief and Recovery Arrangements , the Regional Flood Mitigation Programme and the Bushfire Mitigation Programme which are administered by Emergency Management Australia to reduce the impact on communities of floods, storms, bushfires and other natural disasters. The department also assists State and Territory Governments to fund aerial firefighting. Read More>>
Geoscience Australia and the Disaster Mitigation Australia Package
Geoscience Australia’s national role to generate information for the safety and well being of the community aligns closely with the objectives of the Disaster Mitigation Australia Package. The Department of Transport and Regional Services invited Geoscience Australia to form a partnership to assist in the implementation of the Disaster Mitigation Australia Package over five years until June 2008. Both organisations are working to implement two of the most important reform commitments under Recommendation #4 in the Council of Australian Governments Report, Natural Disasters in Australia: Reforming Mitigation, Relief and Recovery Arrangements as well as other related recommendations.
The Reform Commitments which are most pertinent to Geoscience Australia’s work are:
Reform Commitment #1
- Develop and implement a five year national program of systematic and rigorous disaster risk assessments.
Reform Commitment #2
- Establish a nationally consistent system of data collection, research and analysis to ensure a sound knowledge base on natural disasters and disaster mitigation.
Other related recommendations include:
- Identifying national priorities for natural disaster mitigation in collaboration with other levels of government (Recommendation #5);
- ensuring that post disaster assessment and analysis is undertaken (Recommendation #5);
- that jurisdictions jointly and progressively develop processes and systems which capture costs for all areas of disaster management so that the cost of natural disasters, government expenditures and the costs and benefits of disaster mitigation are increasingly accurate and understood (Recommendation #11);
- that all levels of governments promote the planning and construction of cost-effective disaster resilient infrastructure through the development of mainstreaming strategies (Recommendation #23); and
- that the insurance industry should take active steps to (inter alia) work closely with disaster management agencies on research and investment for improved hazard identification, risk assessment and mitigation action (Recommendation #66).
Geoscience Australia’s role
In the five year Disaster Mitigation Australia Package, Geoscience Australia is:
- Acting as technical advisor to the Department of Transport and Regional Services for national risk assessments; and
- providing risk assessment methods, models and data to be used as benchmarks for future risk assessment research.
These activities are in line with Geoscience Australia's research expertise and focus on natural hazard risk research and on analysis of spatial information for emergency risk management. Since the inception of its Cities Project in 1996, Geoscience Australia has been developing models and conducting risk assessments in urban centres for many of the natural hazards integral to the Disaster Mitigation Australia Package. These include earthquakes, floods, landslides, severe winds and tsunami.
Geoscience Australia has developed strong relationships with many Australian, State and Territory Government agencies, local governments, academic institutions and other public and private organisations involved in assessing or managing natural hazard risk. Geoscience Australia is able to assist the Department of Transport and Regional Services in its consultations with many of these agencies and in convening expert technical committees to provide input into the National Risk Assessment Program as required.
Geoscience Australia’s work program
Through its Risk and Impact Analysis Group, Geoscience Australia has modified its work program to provide optimum support to and synergy with the Department of Transport and Regional Services. The group has expanded its focus on risk research to include regional as well as urban issues. This move represents a significant change from an emphasis on individual urban areas, including Perth, Mackay, Newcastle, Cairns, Gladstone and those in south east Queensland, to embrace investigation and assessment of the national risk posed natural disasters. The group's research also is directed toward strategies with both short and long term benefit to the Disaster Mitigation Australia Package and includes the development of a National Risk Assessment Framework.
Geoscience Australia aims to achieve the Disaster Mitigation Australia Package objectives by:
- Developing nationally integrated, consistent and scientifically rigorous risk assessment approaches;
- integrating a wide base of input from experts and stakeholders into model development and applications; and
- developing stakeholder and community ownership of this approach.
The products and benefits of this work will include:
- A strategy and policy to implement the Council of Australian Governments Reform Commitment #1 through a National Risk Assessment Framework which will act as a point of reference for all participants in risk assessment and mitigation projects;
- new information on risk for a range of sudden onset natural hazards;
- risk assessment model and database development which will allow for objective comparisons of risks between regions and across hazards while increasing risk awareness; and
- improved access to information and decision support tools which will increase the capability of performing and accessing risk assessments by all stakeholders.
The success of these initiatives depends largely on effective collaboration between the Australian, State, Territory and local governments as well as government and non government agencies and a successful data analysis and collection program.
Who benefits?
The primary client is the Department of Transport and Regional Services with other important clients including the Premiers’ or Chief Ministers' Departments in each of the States or Territories and emergency management and planning agencies in each State and Territory.
Stakeholders include:
- The Australasian Police Ministers Council;
- the Australian Emergency Management Committee;
- Emergency Management Australia;
- the Australian Local Government Association and local governments;
- the Commonwealth, State and Territory information providers and the Australia New Zealand Land Information Council;
- the Australian Building Codes Board;
- the Local Government and Planning Ministers' Council and its standing committees;
- the Insurance Council of Australia, insurance and reinsurance companies; and
- consultants in hazard, engineering, economic analysis and risk management.
National Risk Assessment Framework
It has been demonstrated in many events that the impact of natural hazards is not confined to the generation and passage of events such as severe storms or floods, but can have much longer and more profound influences on communities.
The 2002 report to the Council of Australian Governments titled Natural disasters in Australia: Reforming Mitigation, Relief and Recovery Arrangements advocated a fundamental shift in focus towards cost-effective, evidence-based disaster mitigation. One key solution proposed to address the knowledge gap reflected in the report is outlined in its Reform Commitment #1: Develop and implement a five year national program of systematic and rigorous disaster risk assessments.
The National Risk Assessment Framework was prepared to address this initiative and was endorsed by the Australian Emergency Management Committee in August 2006, subject to its implementation plan being finalised. This framework is designed to improve collective knowledge about natural hazard risk in Australia so that support can be provided to emergency risk management and natural hazard mitigation. The natural hazards covered in the framework are bushfires, earthquakes, floods, storms, tropical cyclones, storm surges, landslides, tsunami, tornados and meteorite strikes.
The main objective for the National Risk Assessment Framework is to support the development of an evidence base which can be used for effective risk management decisions. Three other goals are linked to this main objective. They are:
- To increase the value of risk information acquired by improving methodologies for risk analysis and by employing minimum levels of acceptance for methods and deliverables;
- to support the objectives of risk management by developing tools, guidelines and databases which assist all stakeholders to conduct risk assessments; and
- to foster the development of systems for coordinating, sharing, aggregating, and making available consistent information on risk that is essential to support risk management decisions.
Current priorities under the framework include preparing risk assessment guidelines for the Australian, State and Territory Governments as well as local government to undertake risk assessments in a consistent and, where required, rigorous way with a focus on outcomes. Another current priority is to reach a first-pass understanding of existing gaps in knowledge and develop strategies to prioritise and address these gaps so the understanding of natural hazard risk in Australia will be increased.
The National Risk Assessment Framework endorsed by the Australian Emergency Management Committee can be downloaded here.
The importance of working together
Geoscience Australia recognises the national importance of the Disaster Mitigation Australia Package initiative and the commitment it requires for success from the Australian and State and Territory Governments as well as local government and other stakeholders.
The development and implementation of systematic and rigorous disaster risk assessments is intrinsically associated with the establishment of a nationally consistent system of data collection, research and analysis. As a result, the successful achievement of Reform Commitment #1 is largely depended on the quality and comprehensive nature of Reform Commitment #2.
Australia's ability to deal with a catastrophic disaster which has the potential to over-extend the combined capacity of all jurisdictions was considered in the Council of Australian Governments Review. The review took into account national security concerns which have arisen since 11 September, 2001 and concluded that although the probability of such events occurring is low, the consequences are high and Australia currently is ill prepared to deal with such a contingency. Data acquisition is critical for effective mitigation of risk from extreme events such as 11 September, 2001 as well as relatively frequent natural hazard events. Comprehensive data used in natural hazard modelling and in risk assessments has a significant impact on the quality and reliability of the results as incomplete, or inaccurate data inevitably leads to unreliable results and assessments.
By accurately modelling the likely impacts on urban communities and incorporating these estimates into mitigation options, Australia will be better able to prepare for and respond to natural disasters when they occur.
Through its programs, Geoscience Australia aims to provide accurate and timely information for decision makers and support staff involved in all aspects of disaster risk management to assist in constructing informed and effective policy, funding and mitigation decisions. To achieve this outcome, it is necessary to have a long term commitment to developing nationally consistent hazard and risk modelling capabilities, including vulnerability, economic loss estimates and data collection. A nationally consistent approach will highlight areas which are in need of further risk assessments along with those which previously may have been unrecognised as hazardous. Read more
Natural Disaster Mitigation Program
The costs of natural disasters in Australia can be reduced through prioritised, cost-effective mitigation measures. The Natural Disaster Mitigation Program aims to identify and address natural disaster risk priorities across the nation and manage the risk with targeted mitigation projects. The program will enable the Australian Government to further assist State and Territory Governments along with local agencies to implement effective mitigation measures which will allow improved preparation, readiness and response in the event of a disaster. Read More
Natural Disaster Relief and Recovery Arrangement
The Natural Disaster Relief and Recovery Arrangement is a joint Australian, State and Territory Government program which provides financial assistance following natural disaster events to help alleviate the financial burden on States and Territories. Read More