Who Pays for Disasters and How? Setting the Scene for Research and Action

The ANU Disaster Solutions Update and Roundtable 2024 convened a diverse group of experts from government, academia, and the insurance and finance industries to address the pressing challenges of financing disaster resilience, insurance, and climate adaptation. The event underscored the growing urgency for Australia to strengthen its disaster resilience in response to increasingly frequent and severe natural disasters. The discussions highlighted the complex interplay between climate change, insurance costs, finance and community resilience, with a focus on developing innovative solutions and fostering public-private collaboration to mitigate risks and protect vulnerable communities. Addressing these challenges requires a multi-faceted approach involving improved resilience, ecosystem restoration, innovative research, transformational solutions, bridging the insurance gap and decisive government action. Current disaster-related costs far outweigh investment. Investing in these areas now provides us with the necessary options to reduce the devastating human and economic costs of future disasters. However, the question of who ultimately pays and how remains a complex and contentious issue that society must urgently grapple with as the
impacts of climate change intensify.
To address this burning question the Roundtable had two main goals, to identify and discuss:
1. The key challenges regarding funding for resilience, recovery and insurance for
disaster events in Australia.
2. Research to address challenges in financing disaster resilience and providing
insurance affordability.