ICA welcomes additional funding for disaster preparedness

The Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) has announced that it has welcomed additional 2023-24 Budget funding to improve the country’s resilience against natural disasters.

This includes funding to improve the National Emergency Management Agency’s ​​ability to support Australians before, during and following disasters, and to the Department of Social Services to support Australians experiencing financial distress in times of crisis and natural disasters.

Through the Government’s Disaster Ready Fund (DRF), the ICA also continues to invest in reducing risk to Australian homes and communities by relieving pressure of insurance costs for households struggling with the cost-of-living.

The ICA will continue to work with the Government through the Hazards Insurance Partnership for future investments of the DRF, along with the Commonwealth to develop positive policies to improve the affordability and availability of insurance for Australians.

Moreover, through the Commonwealth, the ICA found ways to complement the DRF, such as encouraging Federal and State Governments to establish a permanent voluntary program for buybacks and home-raisings in extreme flood risk areas to move people out of harm’s way before disasters occur.

Andrew Hall, CEO of ICA, “Insurance is a critical safeguard to enable Australian families to go about their lives and businesses to operate and grow. We know that Australians are feeling the cost-of-living crunch, including through the impact of higher insurance premiums driven by escalating disasters costs, inflation and global reinsurance premiums.

“Reducing physical risks to homes and communities before disasters strike is vital to taking pressure off insurance costs in Australia. That’s why we welcomed the Albanese Government’s announcement of the $1 billion Disaster Ready Fund, which is now in its second year of operation. However, the overall investment in resilience and mitigation remains below where we need to be as a nation.

“The budget papers show that the forecast cost to the Commonwealth alone of recovering from the disasters of recent years has increased by almost $4 billion just since December, highlighting why investment in disaster mitigation is more important than ever.

“The Insurance industry continues to work constructively with the Government to find ways to put downward pressure on insurance costs and build a more resilient Australia, including continuing to highlight the $6.8 billion stamp duty take on premiums by state governments and the need to return some of that funding to stronger resilience and mitigation measures,” Hall concludes.

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