The Federal Government is urging businesses providing critical infrastructure to do more to plan for natural catastrophes than just take out insurance.

Attorney-General Robert McClelland last week released a free online booklet, Organisational Resilience, which highlights the need to look at possible risks before they happen.

“There are a range of threats and hazards such as natural disasters and equipment failures which can disrupt or disable business operations,” he said.

Mr McClelland says the weather events of the past few months had been a stark reminder of the need to plan for organisational resilience.

The booklet highlights what happens when a business is disabled for any length of time, what the impacts are on profitability and what key attributes can help the business bounce back.

It outlines the need for critical infrastructure businesses to do more than have an insurance policy in place to cover any natural catastrophe damage.

“This resource provides case studies illustrating disruptions to business operations, how the business dealt with the situation and what lessons were learned,” Mr McClelland said.