List of recommendations

Recommendation 1

6.10The committee recommends that the Australian Climate Service and the National Emergency Management Agency work with all levels of government and industry to establish and maintain a national disaster risk map and database, covering all types of natural disasters in Australia, which is accessible to the public.

Recommendation 2

6.14The committee recommends that insurance companies in Australia be required to provide policyholders with a sufficient breakdown and explanation of insurance premium costs, including details of price changes in response to resilience and disaster mitigation measures undertaken by the policyholder.

Recommendation 3

6.18The committee recommends that the Treasurer issue a Ministerial Direction to require the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission to monitor premium prices across Australia and to publish its monitoring reports on a quarterly basis on its website.

Recommendation 4

6.23The committee recommends that the Australian Government pursue the abolition of general taxes on insurance through the Housing and Homelessness Ministerial Council and other relevant ministerial council arrangements.

Recommendation 5

6.26The committee recommends that Treasury expand the Cyclone Reinsurance Pool to cover all natural disasters. The expansion should:

take account of lessons learned from the operationalisation of the current pool; and

incorporate incentives for participating insurance companies to invest in disaster mitigation and resilience measures.

Recommendation 6

6.30The committee recommends that the Australian Government increase the Disaster Ready Fund to $400 million per annum for investment in disaster mitigation and resilience measures.

Recommendation 7

6.34The committee recommends that the Australian Government pursue the matter of land use and planning laws, including the feasibility of prohibiting future development in high-risk areas, through the Housing and Homelessness Ministerial Council and other relevant ministerial council arrangements.

Recommendation 8

6.38The committee recommends that Treasury develop options for a levy on coal and gas extraction companies, based on the annual energy content they have extracted, from which the funds raised would be invested in disaster mitigation and resilience measures, and the cost of rising insurance.