The Insurance Council and the Planning Institute of Australia have called on all levels of government to prevent development in high-risk areas as demand for housing grows.

A range of experts gathered in Brisbane today at a landmark forum to discuss land use planning and resilience.

The Insurance Council of Australia has long called for a more considered approach to development as climate risks rise, including an end to building on floodplains. It released a statement today saying “the time is now” for action.

In a joint communique, ICA and the Planning Institute say building in high-risk areas exposes more homeowners to extreme weather events and widens the insurance protection gap. 

Key recommendations include: 

• Banning further development in high-risk flood-prone locations
• Enhancing and adapting building standards
• Taking a strategic approach to implementing home buyback programs where risks cannot be mitigated

“ICA has long emphasised the importance of using a nationally consistent baseline of current and future extreme weather risk to inform where we build homes in the future, and identify which existing homes need to be relocated, retrofitted or raised to reduce community vulnerability,” ICA CEO Andrew Hall said.

“We must urgently reduce risk where we can and ensure our planning systems are robust and forward-looking to protect our communities and assets.”

Planning Institute CEO Matt Collins says good land use planning can make communities more resilient. 

“[The institute] strongly supports the need for high-quality strategic plans that clearly identify areas where we can’t manage the risks from threats like flood and fire, with clear indications of where we simply shouldn’t be building,” he said.

“We don’t just need more resilient homes – we need to plan for the surrounding landscape. The decisions we make on where to live and invest in the future should use the best available data and modelling, and we need governments to invest in these critical inputs.”

Today’s roundtable follows last year’s inaugural event in Sydney.