The insurance industry and local planners will be better able to assess the risk of erosion along Australia’s coasts thanks to a new mapping tool.

The Federal Government, Geoscience Australia and the University of Tasmania have launched the National Coastal Landform and Stability Mapping Tool, which details coastal landform types for the entire coastline and can identify areas vulnerable to erosion.

Assistant Climate Change Minister Greg Combet says the new tool identifies soft coastlines at risk of erosion and provides detailed coastal landform information that will benefit planners.  

It will also be valuable for insurers wanting to research the risks of specific areas of coastline.

“Australia is highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change along the shoreline, particularly given the large number of Australians who live very close to the coast,” Mr Combet said.

“Erosion by the sea is likely to increase under climate change as sea level rises accelerate and storms causing coastal flooding become more frequent and intense.”