Submission to the Senate Standing Committee on Finance and Public Administration Inquiry - Lessons to be learned in relation to the Australian bushfire season 2019-2020

The 2019-2020 ‘Black Summer’ bushfire season was devastating for all Australians. The loss of life, properties and impact on communities across the country was heartbreaking. At IAG our focus is to support our customers rebuild their homes, lives and communities under these incredibly difficult circumstances. It is also critical that after such events we take time to learn from the disaster and put in place key measures to help protect people and boost the resilience of communities into the future.

IAG has long advocated that the main measure to reduce impact of natural perils and improve community resilience is to invest in mitigation works. We believe a co-ordinated national framework for disaster resilience, response and recovery funding is required to enable strategic, long term investment in community resilience building measures. For funding at all levels of government to remain sustainable in the long term, we support more balanced spending on disaster mitigation and resilience measures as against recovery and reconstruction after an event.

IAG also commissioned a research paper from the Menzies Research Centre titled Strengthening Resilience: Managing national disasters after the 2019-20 bushfire season which is available using the link below.