INQ337

Disaster funding investments should elevate the role of local First Nations leadership in emergency management through formal recognition and resourcing for their actions and decision-making during disasters.

The Commonwealth should publicly release a version of the Risk Profile and associated methodology to inform the efforts of communities, industry, local and state and territory governments, and the not-for-profit sectors, to prepare for future natural disasters.

To the extent possible, where programs are requested to be funded by the Commonwealth that have previously been agreed as part of the Risk Profile, thresholds and administrative arrangements should be streamlined to encourage pre-planning and a risk-based approach.

The Commonwealth should use the results of the Risk Profile to work with state and territory governments to identify and prioritise disaster funding.

In compiling the Risk Profile, the Commonwealth should draw upon existing activities including, but not limited to, the National Climate Risk Assessment and the High-Risk Weather Season Outlook.

The Commonwealth should ensure consistency with state and territory governments by also mandating regular capability assessments of all non-self-governing Australian territories that are administered by the Commonwealth to inform the Risk Profile.

The Commonwealth should mandate regular capability assessments of local governments by state and territory governments.
- Where possible, these assessments should form part of the local or regional Disaster Management Plans.

To support a comprehensive risk-based approach, the Commonwealth should require state and territory governments to develop local or regional Disaster Management Plans. These Disaster Management Plans should:

The Commonwealth should require state and territory governments to complete complementary disaster risk assessments to inform the Risk Profile and guide priority areas for Commonwealth investment and support.

The Commonwealth should develop an agreed methodology to underpin the Risk Profile that would identify at-risk communities, capabilities, and assets.

The Commonwealth should institute a range of program reforms required to support a disaster management system that is scalable, sustainable, effective, equitable, transparent and accessible.

The Commonwealth should clarify the role of the DRFA in the current Commonwealth disaster arrangements. This should be achieved through:

The Commonwealth should remove existing current DRFA Category A, B, C, and D and negotiate their replacement with a criteria framework that categorises measures into short- (or immediate), medium-, and long-term recovery initiatives and groups initiatives according to their domain (natural, socia

The Commonwealth should conduct a stocktake to map existing partnerships in natural disaster management across various sectors including but not limited to, construction, healthcare, infrastructure, logistics, technology, philanthropy and the charitable sector.

The Commonwealth should seek to establish enhanced relationships with key nongovernment and private sector partners as part of reforms to the disaster management system.

The Commonwealth should prioritise the redirection of AGDRP funding, which occurs because of a refined role, towards natural disaster resilience and risk reduction program/s.

The intent of the AGDRP should be refined to clarify its role in the disaster management funding system. This should be achieved through:
- Prioritising a clear intent statement that clarifies the purpose of the AGDRP.

The Commonwealth should reconsider, with a view to increasing, the current amount of funding allocated to the DRF, or other similar future programs, to address the disaster risk reduction and resilience priorities identified by the Risk Profile.

The DRF should be underpinned by an investment strategy that is informed by the Risk Profile. This should be done through:
- Prioritising state and territory projects that address needs identified through the Risk Profile.

The Commonwealth should streamline nationally consistent standardised measures, focused on response and short-term recovery that can be delivered quickly following a disaster event. The standardised measures should:

The Commonwealth should review the existing DRFA cost sharing arrangements with state and territory governments, taking into consideration simplicity, equity and the capacity of the individual state and territory governments.

The Commonwealth should clarify and more narrowly define an exceptional circumstances consideration (currently Category D). This should include:

The Commonwealth should lead the development of a Nation-wide Natural Disaster Risk Profile (Risk Profile) to enable the Commonwealth to identify risk reduction and resilience priorities and allow the Commonwealth, states, and territories to address agreed risk. The Risk Profile should:

The Commonwealth should adopt an evidence-informed, risk-based approach to Commonwealth disaster funding.

The Outcomes Policy should be subject to periodic review by the Productivity Commission (or a similar entity with an evaluation focus) to provide advice to government on the degree to which the outcomes are being realised and provide suggestions for improvement.

The Commonwealth should ensure that all non-self-governing Australian territories are clearly eligible for financial support during and after a natural disaster.

The Commonwealth should prioritise its data coordination efforts, including the provision of timely decision relevant information to assist decision makers to manage their risks and satisfy their disaster management objectives.

The Commonwealth should convene a Disaster Management Advisory Council to provide a constructive view of the Commonwealth’s current disaster arrangements, outcomes, and funding options.

The Commonwealth should develop a capability, with agreed accountability measures, to capture and track all Commonwealth expenditure relating to natural disasters.

The Commonwealth should implement an enhanced national training and exercise regime that tests local capabilities, but also encourages better information sharing, continual improvement, cross-Local Government Area (LGA) and jurisdiction collaboration, and the identification of gaps or weaknesses

The Commonwealth, via NEMA, should work with state and territory governments to adopt a leadership and oversight role in ensuring adequate capability, capacity and/or investment exists across Australia for local government and communities to adequately respond to natural disaster events, and to e

The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (PM&C), jointly with the CoordinatorGeneral of National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), should co-chair a coordination mechanism between Commonwealth departments and agencies to promote natural disaster risk reduction and resilience.

The Commonwealth should require all Commonwealth government departments and agencies to incorporate natural disaster risk reduction and resilience into department or agency strategic considerations.

The Minister for Emergency Management should deliver an annual Statement to Parliament that:
- Defines the Commonwealth’s role in prioritising risk reduction, prevention, resilience, and mitigation against natural disasters.

The capability and capacity of NEMA should be aligned with the reforms proposed by the Review.

The Commonwealth should develop a National Natural Disaster Outcomes Policy (Outcomes Policy) that describes the outcomes the Commonwealth is seeking to achieve through its disaster funding.

The Outcomes Policy should:
- Outline natural disaster related investment priorities of the Commonwealth and apply to all Commonwealth departments and agencies investment initiatives.

The Commonwealth should use reporting established by the Outcomes Policy to inform requirements associated with international obligations (e.g., the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction).

The Commonwealth should embed regular sharing of lessons learnt from program outcomes between state and territory governments, and the Commonwealth, to develop a continuous improvement culture.

The Commonwealth should introduce a systematic and consistent approach to measuring and evaluating the impact of disaster programs against the nationally determined outcomes specified in the Outcomes Policy.

The Commonwealth should develop a common vocabulary for disaster management that can be used at national, regional and local levels in both government and non-government sectors to support the Outcomes Policy.

When designing disaster management outcomes for First Nations communities, the Commonwealth should consider flexible funding arrangements to support community self-determination towards disaster preparedness, risk reduction and resilience as part of the Outcomes Policy.

The Commonwealth should ensure that the Outcomes Policy includes outcomes that directly reference disadvantaged or disproportionately impacted groups to ensure their needs are appropriately considered by disaster funding programs.

The Commonwealth should engage with state and territory governments on the design and implementation of the Outcomes Policy.

The Commonwealth should align all existing and new Commonwealth disaster-relevant programs to the Outcomes Policy and require them to demonstrate how they are helping to deliver these outcomes.

To the extent possible, all current guidelines and frameworks in operation across Commonwealth disaster management funding arrangements should be superseded by the Outcomes Policy.

The Commonwealth should prioritise nation-wide investment in disaster risk reduction and resilience initiatives.