State governments and the Commonwealth are being called upon to provide councils with a dedicated funding stream for disaster mitigation and resilience.
The renewed appeal features in a submission by national peak the Australian Local Government Association in response to the Colvin and Glasser reviews into natural disaster governance and funding.
Releasing the findings in October last year, the federal government commissioned the two reviews in 2023 in response “to the increasing size, scale, intensity, cost and complexity of natural disasters”.
In a bid to inform its final response to the recommendations of the Colvin and Glasser reviews, the Australian government has sought widespread consultation from stakeholders – including local government representatives.
In line with the findings of the Colvin and Glasser reviews, ALGA recommends that the Australian government considers providing – through a non-competitive pathway – “additional funding to support local government prepare communities for, and respond to, more frequent and intense disasters”.
In its submission, ALGA – which represents 537 councils across the country – says, “local governments need assistance to build their capacity and capability” and recommends “an additional $900 million per year be allocated to local government on top of any increase in the disaster relief fund that would be directed to jurisdictions”.
“It is essential that local government is effectively equipped to support their communities, increase their resilience, and speed up recovery from natural disasters,” continues ALGA’s 11-page submission, dated 15 January. “This requires Commonwealth and state governments to provide significant additional support to local government.”
“The frequency and intensity of natural disasters will continue.”
Between January 2019 and 2023, 434 local government areas were impacted by natural disasters with 17.8 million Australians affected.
As ALGA’s submission notes, billions-of-dollars’ worth of roads and infrastructure has been damaged during that period but a lack of financial sustainability has meant councils have not been able to rebuild to a standard that protects against future events. “A lack of support for improvement has meant that councils have had to repair the same roads and infrastructure on numerous occasions, rather than increasing infrastructure resilience.”
Currently, says ALGA, there exists a “mismatch” between the amount of local government infrastructure exposed to the risks of disasters and the resources available to protect against such risks. “This consequently impacts councils’ ability to support their local communities with asset management and other local needs.”
Furthermore, Australia’s efforts to manage the increasing risk of disasters is not taking full advantage of the opportunity for greater partnership and collaboration with local government, says ALGA. “The frequency and intensity of natural disasters will continue to exacerbate this mismatch unless a new approach is taken.”
The Colvin report contains a number of recommendations which recognise the essential role local government plays in emergency management preparedness and disaster prevention, response and recovery. Recommendations ALGA says its members “welcome and wholeheartedly support”.
The Colvin review also suggests the establishment of a disaster management advisory body. ALGA’s submission strongly calls for local government to be represented on an advisory body. “Local government is in the unique position to understand the needs of communities and best placed to advise on place-based disaster-related investment priorities.”
Welcoming both the Glasser and Colvin reviews and the recommendations contained in the reports, ALGA says it “encourages the Australian government and state and territory governments to give effect to the recommendations and adequately fund disaster preparedness, response and betterment”.
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