Actioning the piecemeal disaster mitigation approaches across Australia

The author has major concerns about piecemeal disaster mitigation approaches across Australia that are getting us nowhere, over decades. Whole communities, towns and cities have inadequate and unsafe disaster protection, including for floods and bushfires.

Current disaster approaches are doomed to failure

Current disaster management and mitigation approaches are doomed to failure because of inadequate policy, funding and management approaches to disaster management and mitigation across Australia, including inadequate understanding of the scale of disaster problems in towns and cities. There is little consideration of whole community, town and city vulnerability and exposure. There have been no real attempts to tackle and improve disaster mitigation for whole communities.

There is miniscule disaster mitigation funding. The Disaster Ready Fund itself, which provides minimal funding and is focussed on recovery.

Many other concerns are included in the full review article.

Inadequate disaster preparation

It is the author's belief that South East Australia continues to be not adequately prepared for upcoming bushfires and to be frank we as a society have learnt very little following 2019/20 and earlier bushfires, especially in regards to inadequate bushfire mitigation. As a consequence, communities, firefighters and the ecosystems are highly exposed over the coming bushfire seasons. Disaster insurance costs are going up every year and will continue to go up with current limited adopted fire mitigation approaches.

Good bushfire preparation and preparedness is important in order to reduce risks to households, communities and firefighters, reduce fuel loads and strata, reduce areas of contiguous fuels across landscapes, reduce bushfire risks, assist in controlling bushfires, reduce bushfire intensity and extent and reduce costs and impacts of bushfires, including rising insurance and levy costs.

The author considers that there are 15 main areas of concern in relation to sound bushfire preparation and preparedness for major bushfires across SE Australia, these concern areas outlined here.

Other information in relation to inadequate bushfire preparedness is outlined here.

Flood preparedness is at inadequate levels, simply look where floods are occurring, occurring regularly, including on eastern seaboard communities. Repeat disasters and rising rates of insurance ram home the point that flood preparedness is at inadequate levels.

Inadequate levels of bushfire and flood resilience are outlined in the full article review.

Assessing the effectiveness of Australian disaster management

The author has taken a look at the effectiveness of disaster management over the last 10 plus years in relation to bushfires and floods, this is outlined in the full article review. The author considers that the above points highlight a very poor picture broadly across bushfire and flood, across the majority of assessed areas.

Consequent huge disaster impacts

The impacts of disasters are huge considered from social, economic and environmental perspectives, including floods, bushfires and other natural disasters. Repeat disasters are even worse.

These issues are often quickly forgotten and inadequately considered by governments.

Consequent high and increasing insurance and levy costs to communities, businesses and individuals

Insurance costs have increased rapidly, much due to disasters. And then there are lots of owners not insuring or under insuring.

Emergency service levy costs are also increasing rapidly in some states.

Need for a totally different approach to current disaster management, including mitigation

The author considers that a totally different approach to current disaster management is needed in Australia, including federal, state and local government approaches and directions. These are not going to get Australia on track with disaster management.

In addition, there is a very big need to have people with disaster expertise, particularly in the mitigation area, who understand the full range of issues involved in effectively tackling the current disaster management situation.

Frankly, current approaches, bureaucrats, inadequate action and will, complacency and not seeing the economic efficiencies and opportunities, will never ever get us past the goal posts.

If costs of Australian disasters average around $35 Billion per year as estimated by the McKell Institute, serious action is critical now. Then, when you consider the costs of repeat disasters, it is a no brainer, dramatically increased action is needed now. Then, considering the costs of insurance and the suffering underway, that should settle the argument. And then considering the cost advantages of disaster mitigation efficiencies as outlined below.

Disaster economic opportunities for NSW

A recent article in On Line Opinion identifies 10 economic opportunities in relation to disaster management.

There are large economic opportunities that Australia can use.

The author strongly believes that the economic opportunities and efficiencies of expanding disaster mitigation in Australia are huge, it just takes government will, innovation, vision and protecting communities and firefighters and looking out for their interests. Surely good effective governments, oppositions, flood and fire agencies could capture these economic opportunities and obtain all the long term benefits of this.

Disaster economic efficiency and accountability lessons and opportunities available for Australia

The author prepared an important document teasing out the key economic, efficiency and accountability lessons and insights in relation to bushfire disasters.

The bushfire disaster economic, efficiency and accountability lessons include 27 economic, efficiency and accountability lessons and insights captured by the author in this review.

Bushfire efficiency lessons and insights in relation to current approaches to bushfire funding, mitigation, suppression, land and fire management and community protection (9 lessons and insights) are an essential read and very valuable for Treasurer's.

There are similar efficiency issues for flood disasters.

Because of economic, efficiency and accountability problems and failures, the Australian public is being greatly impacted with huge impacts of flood, bushfire and other disasters on Australian communities in financial impacts and lives lost and injuries as well (due to miniscule mitigation underway). They are also impacted by huge insurance costs and insurance increases and large Emergency Services Levy charges.

There are huge opportunities for improving disaster policy across Australia, but, in reality, the author believes that the politicians hasn't been listening as much as they should.

Policy development opportunities for disaster management

The author strongly believes that there needs to be improved government and agency disaster policies and this is outlined in the full review.

Benefits an expanded federal/ state and local disaster mitigation program

Benefits of an expanded federal/ state and local disaster mitigation program to tackle disasters over the next 6-9 years across Australia include obtaining higher returns on disaster investment than other projects. Other benefits include educed individual bushfire disasters and associated costs, budget impacts and community/ firefighter and ecosystem impacts; reduced ongoing repeat disasters and associated costs, reduced budget impacts and community/ firefighter and ecosystem impacts; reduced community bushfire deaths and safer firefighting; assisting regional economies; and reduced insurance premiums and uninsurance;

Conclusions

There are big opportunities for Australia to be ahead of the pack, lead the game and quickly action disaster mitigation economic opportunities.

There are large benefits of an expanded federal/ state and local disaster mitigation program to tackle disasters over the next 6-9 years across Australia

Suggested ways forward include discussing opportunities and disaster approaches with Premiers, the Treasurers and the Productivity Commissions in each state, the Prime Minister and local government officials.