The Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) and Master Builders Australia (MBA) held a roundtable to develop initiatives to strengthen homes and communities against extreme weather events.
The Building Stronger Homes Roundtable, held at Parliament House in Canberra, focused on the financial impacts of natural disasters, rebuilding costs, and learnings from existing resilient home programs – all with the aim of creating actionable change.
“An advisory committee established and funded by the government is recommended for the collation of data and the reinforcement of resilience resources,” said ICA chief executive officer Andrew Hall.
“There is a tremendous community benefit in sharing impact assessment data as it allows for funds and other benefits (such as emergency accommodation) to be made available to residents without the insurer having to wait until the property is accessible.”
MBA CEO Denita Wawn added: “Developing best practice guidance and understanding costs and benefits is the first step in the process of getting building standards right. This should be supported by education programs for the building supply chain and the broader community that address how improvements to existing homes can improve building resilience.”
The ICA and MBA have committed to working with the government to improve information sharing between the sectors and consumer information on housing resilience. They will also hold two roundtables in the first half of 2021.
