Flood insurance take-up has risen dramatically, with 78.1% of homes across the country now covered, according to the Insurance Council of Australia (ICA).

Financial Services Minister Bill Shorten has welcomed the figure, saying it is up “from only 3% in 2006”.

The dramatic change in the country’s flood insurance profile follows last year’s floods in Queensland and Victoria. The resulting dissatisfaction at the lack of flood coverage in many home policies led to most insurers offering flood cover and the Federal Government introducing a common definition for flood.

ICA CEO Rob Whelan says the figure shows adequate flood insurance is available in many formats and “consumers are making well-considered decisions about their risks and their insurance requirements”.

“Consumers can choose to purchase products with flood cover as a standard inclusion, products that allow the customer to opt out of the flood component or products that exclude flood from the policy,” he said.

Flood insurance is not evenly distributed across the country, with 84% of NSW homes covered compared with 80% in WA, 76% in Victoria and 61% in Queensland, where flooding is perhaps most common. SA has 76% and Tasmania 78.6%. About 7% of Australians live in areas with some flood risk.

The Federal Treasury gathered information for the survey. Flood insurance includes cover for home, contents or both.

The figures are extrapolated by information supplied by insurers – but “not all insurers”. ICA has warned there may be “a small margin of error”.