The Federal Government has opened applications for the second round of its $1 billion five-year Disaster Ready Fund (DRF), which backs resilience and risk reduction projects, while bringing the states and territories on board.

The round will provide up to $200 million federal funding in total, to be matched by “state, territory, local government and other applicants, where possible”. The total includes $3 million for administration support.

The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) says a couple of changes have been made to this round’s guidelines, including the introduction of four investment principles.

“As part of round two, we have built on the experiences and outcomes from round one, as well as feedback from extensive stakeholder consultation, to make sure the funding is used effectively, is accessible to more regions, and can be used to facilitate more multi-jurisdictional and national projects,” a NEMA spokesman told insuranceNEWS.com.au today.

The principles include that projects are informed by an evidence-based understanding of disaster risk and that they are aligned with hazard mitigation and resilience or adaption plans.

Applications must be sent to state and territory lead agencies by March 20. They will submit proposals to NEMA by April 29 and funded projects will start from next financial year.

NEMA will establish and chair a panel, or panels, to assess the proposals. Members may be drawn from government agencies and advisory bodies with expertise in disaster risk reduction and resilience.

Advice may also be sought from Australian Government agencies and other entities in supporting panel deliberations, the round two guidelines say.

Agencies involved in receiving applications at the state and territory level are the ACT Justice and Community Directorate, NSW Reconstruction Authority, NT Emergency Services, Queensland Reconstruction Authority, SA Fire and Emergency Services Commission, Resilience and Recovery Tasmania, Emergency Management Victoria and WA Department of Fire and Emergency Services.

A total of 187 projects were selected in the DRF first round after more than 300 applications were submitted.

The Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) has welcomed the introduction of the Disaster Ready Fund, which was a Labor commitment before the last election, after long campaigning for an increase in resilience spending.

ICA says that given the importance of resilience funding and the impacts of extreme weather events over the past two years the DRF should now become a 10-year rolling program.

“An ongoing DRF would ensure that Australians receive the benefits of resilience and mitigation investment for years to come and allow governments and communities to plan for long-term projects that put downward pressure on insurance premiums,” an ICA spokesperson told insuranceNEWS.com.au.

“Until we make greater investment in public infrastructure and home retrofits, improve how we build new homes and undertake better land use planning, the risk profile of communities exposed to extreme weather will not change.”

ICA says it’s “eager to collaborate with the Commonwealth” through the Hazards Insurance Partnership to develop further positive policies to improve the affordability and availability of insurance in a changing climate.