| FLYER ISSUE 9: SEPTEMBER 2022 | |
NEXT FMA MEETINGS: QLD CHAPTER 9 NOVEMBER, BRISBANE + NSW/ACT CHAPTER 17 NOVEMBER, SYDNEY
A MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT
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As reported elsewhere in this Flyer, the Insurance Council of Australia has released its second Catastrophe Resilience Report this month and the figures tell a shocking story. For example: Since 2005, Commonwealth expenditure on disaster relief was $24 billion while spending on disaster resilience was just $500 million – or around two per cent of all expenditure In 2021-22, insurers paid $6.41 billion from more than 380,000 claims across multiple events, which was $3.9 billion
more than the previous 12 months The February-March flood has so far reached $5.28 billion in insured losses from more than 233,000 claims and is the costliest natural disaster in our history after the 1999 Eastern Sydney Hailstorm ($5.57 billion in insured damages normalised to 2017 values) The local government area that suffered the greatest loss from this year’s floods was Brisbane, at $1.38 billion, followed by Lismore at $508 million. In preparing this report, the ICA
commissioned The McKell Institute who have calculated that the direct economic cost of extreme weather events will reach $35.24 billion per year by 2050. This is a similar prediction to previous estimates by Deloittes Access Economics which FMA has acknowledged for many years now. The figures provided by the McKell Institute and contained in the ICA report are confirmation that Australia is going to burden the next generation with a dreadful legacy. I wish to thank the ICA for releasing
this latest report and offer my gratitude to our FMA Young Floodplain Managers who are already “fighting the good fight” as we head towards 2050.
ID
Ian Dinham | FMA President
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INSURANCE COUNCIL RELEASES ANNUAL CATASTROPHE REPORT |
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The insurance Council of Australia (ICA) has released the Insurance Catastrophe Resilience Report
2021–22. The report was foreshadowed by the ICA’s Liam Walter at the FMA Quarterly Meeting in August, and highlights the insurance costs of four significant events: - Mansfield (Victoria) earthquake - $105 million
- South Australian severe storm event - $848 million
- South East Queensland and NSW flooding - $5.28
billion
- NSW
severe weather - $183 million.
Referring to the South East Queensland and NSW flooding, the report says “At $5.28 billion, the losses from this one event dwarf the devastating 2019-2020 Black Summer bushfires, which cost insurers $2.32 billion”. The report says “the cost of floods to Australians is large and growing – since 1967 floods have cost insurers more than $23 billion, with more than $9 billion in just the last 10 years.” Accompanying the report is research by the McKell Institute which indicated
that this year’s flood cost each Australian household an average of $525 through price impacts on agricultural goods and government recovery expenditure. Policy responses suggested by the ICA to alleviate the dangers faced by communities and the rising cost of insurance premiums include abolition of taxes on insurance, improved coordination of disaster clean-up, better land use planning and building codes, and investing in mitigation. The reports are available at: https://insurancecouncil.com.au |
PREPARING FOR THE UNPRECEDENTED FLOOD |
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The theme for the May 2023 FMA National Conference has been set. “Preparing for the Unprecedented Flood”, will focus on applying lessons from recent floods and new research to better manage the increasing costs of extreme weather events. The 2022 floods have been described by many as “unprecedented”, but were they really? They resulted in record breaking costs and years of recovery effort, but they
have also provided a wealth of information to help us manage the risks of extreme events better. The Call for Abstracts will open in mid October, and presentations on the following topics will be invited: - Modelling and flood data
- Flood prediction and warning
- Land use planning
- Infrastructure projects and asset
management
- Flood policy, guidance and best practice
- Emergency preparedness, response and recovery
- Flood case studies and stories
- Environmental aspects, climate change, coastal hazards and adaptation
- New technology and research
- Flood damages and
insurance
- Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander and Māori perspectives
- Social sciences, human behaviour and communication.
The content can be technical or non-technical to suit our varied audience, so you don’t need to be a “flood expert” to provide a presentation. The practical experiences of Councillors, flood committee members and community
representatives can be of real value to fellow conference attendees. Please start planning your presentation now! The 2023 Floodplain Management Australia National Conference will be held at Luna Park Venues, Sydney, NSW from Wednesday 24 – Friday 26 May 2023, with optional pre-conference workshops on Tuesday 23 May. Details are at: floodplainconference.com |
$200 MILLION DISASTER READY FUND PROGRESSSES |
The Commonwealth Government has moved forward on the pre-election promise made by then Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese and Senator Murray Watt that Labor will spend up to $200 million per year for disaster prevention and resilience. The Emergency Response Fund Amendment (Disaster Ready Fund) Bill was introduced to the House of Representatives on 7 September by Home Affairs Minister Claire O'Neil. The Bill renames the
Emergency Response Fund established by the previous Government as the Disaster Ready Fund, and enables up to $200 million per financial year to be debited from the Fund for natural disaster resilience and risk reduction. To ensure that the level of funding remains appropriate, this limit will be reviewed at least every five years. FMA President Ian Dinham said this is consistent with the recommendation of the 2014 Productivity Commission Report on Natural Disaster Funding
Arrangements that the Commonwealth Government invests $200 million a year to begin reducing the cost of natural disasters. “This now needs to be matched by the states and territories to help bring the escalating costs of natural disasters under control”, he said. |
FMA ACTIVITIES SPONSORS - CALL FOR EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST |
FMA and the FMA Young Floodplain Managers (YFM) regularly host various professional development and networking events including Quarterly Meetings, workshops, social events, tours and webinars. Activities presently being planned include YFM End of Year Events at various locations in Queensland, NSW and Victoria. FMA is now seeking sponsors and partners to join us in delivering any or all of these
activities. If you are interested in discussing opportunities to work with FMA to improve the knowledge and skills of floodplain management practitioners, and raise the profile of your organisation, please contact Executive Officer Glenn Evans: [email protected] |
FRM SHORT COURSE ENROLMENTS NOW OPEN
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The Flood Risk Management Short Course still has one block available for the remainder of 2022. The course is hosted by
the University of Technology, Sydney, with input from FMA and the NSW Government. The links for enrolment and more information on content are are now available at https://open.uts.edu.au/uts-open/study-area/built-environment/
Block 3 Managing Flood Risk to Existing Properties
6, 13 and 20 October
The course has been designed to: - Equip you with good understanding of how FRM is undertaken in NSW and other flood prone states in Australia, and the roles of relevant agencies
- Provide you with a solid understanding of
the principles of FRM and the desired outcomes of FRM projects
- Improve your skills to work on FRM projects and be more effectively involved in the FRM process; and
- Enhance your ability to specify and manage FRM projects.
The cost per block is $550 (GST-free)* *Price subject to change. Please check price at time of purchase. If you have any queries about the course, please email:Associate Professor Jaya Kadasamy, UTS School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, at [email protected]. |
LIMB 2020 IFDs RELEASED ON DATA HUB |
The release of significantly improved Intensity-Frequency-Duration (IFD) design rainfall data in 2016 brought opportunity to renew understanding of Australian floodplains, and consequently create safer and stronger communities. However, several councils in SEQLD noted localised nuances in rainfall distribution and severity not reflected by the 2016 IFD data. A suite of new localised IFD data was hence commissioned for four local government areas (LGA), being the Lockyer Valley, Ipswich, Moreton Bay LGAs, and one other area, herein termed the LIMB 2020
IFDs. The LIMB 2020 IFDs were informed by additional council sub-daily rainfall gauge data, and were developed using methods that placed higher weighting on this data. The method additionally placed enhanced focus on elevation. The developed localised IFDs resulted in a reduction in local biases across all AEPs, durations and areas, compared to the 2016 IFDs. Moreton Bay Regional Council formally adopted the LIMB 2020 IFDs in June 2022 (https://www.moretonbay.qld.gov.au/files/assets/public/council/meetings/2022/gm20220629-minutes.pdf ). Ipswich City Council and Lockyer Valley Regional Council have been progressively
incorporating the use of the LIMB 2020 IFDs since the conclusion of the project in June 2021. The LIMB 2020 IFDs are now freely available for download on the ARR Data Hub website, Home | ARR Data Hub (arr-software.org) , with background information provided under the “Jurisdiction Specifics” tab. To gain the data, users enter their location of interest (e.g. 152.948 , -27.082 ), select at least one checkbox (e.g. River Region) and hit “submit”, as for usual enquiries. The LIMB IFD tables will be at the bottom of the generated results webpage. The spatial extent of the data is visible by clicking the “show” link located adjacent to the “LIMB 2020 IFD” row to the left of the map
at the top of the results page. A paper on the development of the IFDs was presented to the industry at the FMA 2022 Conference in Toowoomba; the conference paper is available via the members section of the FMA website https://www.floods.asn.au/ |
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While it may be a few months away, please note the upcoming dates for FMA Meetings in November:
Queensland Chapter Meeting and Workshop
Wednesday, 9 November at Brisbane
NSW/ACT Chapter Meeting and Workshop Thursday, 17 November at Sydney
We encourage you to attend to get the
latest updates from State agencies and Members, including the Bureau of Meteorology, Queensland Reconstruction Authority, Department of Planning and Environment, State Emergency Service and Insurance Council of Australia.
Business Papers and further details
will be circulated closer to the dates. |
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So apparently all our early career professionals are booked-out this year with weddings and other celebrations long overdue because of COVID! As such, the YFM TriWater Cup event is being postponed to early March 2023. Watch this space for an official date announcement, and start getting your
teams ready! For those based in Brisbane, you’ll want to “save this date” for the YFM QLD end-year in-person social gathering on 10th November. More details to come soon; be sure to sign up to our membership list at floods.asn.au/yfm or follow us on LinkedIn to hear first! The QLD committee is looking for enthusiastic new members to join its team. The commitment is 30mins a month for a catch-up phone call, and then whatever else you wish to donate beyond that towards promoting and organising events. Email [email protected] to indicate your interest! |
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The FMA Flyer reaches a wide range of industry professionals from Australia and overseas, and if you have any recent projects or exciting news we would love to share it with our
readers.
Send through details of your stories and we can include them in our upcoming issues by contacting [email protected].
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UPCOMING MEETINGS AND EVENTS
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TRAVELLING CAPS AND BEANIES
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