The Committee recommends the Australian Government work with the Insurance Council of Australia to develop and publish advice on the mitigation measures households could undertake to improve the flood resilience of their property.

The Committee recommends that insurers amend their home insurance policies to provide fully paid temporary accommodation until the insurer has closed the claim, unless the extension of the time required can be demonstrated to be a result of behaviour on the part of the policyholder that is unreasonably causing delay; That final cash settlements include a provision for temporary accommodation that takes account of the Scope of Works; progress on the project to date; and a reasonable uplift; and That the cost of covering temporary accommodation should be a separate entitlement and not be funded out of the sum insured amount.

In circumstances where the cost of relevant training is not covered by the organisation, the committee recommends that the Australian Government consider amendments to legislation, policy and guidelines to allow volunteers working in organisations such as State Emergency and Rural Bushfire Services to claim tax deductions for training and courses that are a part of their emergency volunteering

The committee recommends that the Australian Government consider ways to incentivise young Australians to participate in volunteer organisations that provide support for disaster response and recovery.

Individuals without a mobile phone who are concerned about access to Triple Zero during a prolonged telecommunications outage could consider purchasing a low cost mobile phone with a charger to keep at home for use during such outages. Since mobile phones do not require SIM cards to make emergency calls (‘000’ and ‘112’), there will be no ongoing costs.

The Committee suggests that registered volunteer fire fighters be exempt from paying Fire Levy tax to help offset some of the expense they incur during active duty. The exemption could be for a period of 12 months
following each bushfire season in which they are proven to have fought fires.

The Committee recommends that:
- the Commonwealth implement a program similar to the Army Reservist Employer Support Program for the re-imbursement of costs incurred by employers of volunteer fire fighters when attending bush fires for a period exceeding five days in any month; and
- the Commonwealth consult with the states and territories through Council of Australian Governments to develop a range of measures related to local government rates, state government charges and insurance costs to provide rebates for registered volunteer fire fighters.
- the Commonwealth consider the feasibility of taxation relief on costs incurred by registered fire fighting volunteers in the line of duty.