Flood insurance and relief in Australia

Abstract

Loss redistribution through insurance or relief is one way of dealing with flood losses. Even if an area has a very high level of protection, some risk will remain, and this can be accommodated through loss redistribution. Flood insurance and relief in Australia are pruuided by government and private organisations. This chapter praoides an introduction to the Australian flood problem and to insurance and relief. Australian urban areas may be threatened by several types of flooding, including rivers with a very wide range of warning times, urban drainage surcharge, coastal storm surge, and the catastrophic effects of dam failure. There are about 300 settlements with approximately 100 000 buildings lying within 1:i00 year riverine floodplains. These figures are limited to property at risk from river flooding. This volume concentrates on the problems posed by households and small businesses located in flood-proneareas. With the exception of Queensland and the Northern Territory, flood insurance is generally unavailable to these groups. Using an established formula, federal and state governments provide disaster relief. However, the bulk of disaster relief has gone to local governments to restore infrastructure. In the past, individual householders have received very little. A few major disasters, where substantial amounts of money have been made available, have been exceptions to this pattern. The present trend is for relief to be more generous and formalised within the normal welfare system. Show more