Increased investments in preventive flood measures such as levees and flood-proof roads can improve insurance affordability, according to Floodplain Management Australia.

“Prevention is 10 times better than the money spent on rehabilitation and repairs,” Executive Officer Glenn Evans told insuranceNEWS.com.au.

“The major concern of our association is so much money is being spent on repairs and rehabilitation of people’s homes and workplaces and infrastructures when just a small increase in investments before flood events would help to avoid much of this loss.

“Everybody really has a role to play.”

Floodplain Management Australia was established in 1961 and brings together 120 councils, catchment authorities, businesses and risk professionals.

Its annual conference was held last month in Nowra, NSW, and was attended by more than 280 delegates from across the country as well as the US and Poland.

“It’s always flooding somewhere in the world,” President Ian Dinham said in his opening address. “Whether it’s emergency response, flood mitigation, land use planning… we all have a role.”

According to a 2013 report by Deloitte Access Economies prepared for the Australian Business Roundtable for Disaster Resilience and Safer Communities, floods cost the country more than $560 million a year.

The Deloitte report for this year estimates the total cost of natural disasters will rise from $9 billion to $33 billion by 2050 unless measures are taken to increase resilience.