The Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) says a $12.1 million Victorian Government investment in flood warning systems could be better spent on mapping.

The Liberal-National coalition’s first state budget last week made the allocation for a new online tool called Floodzoom, which will improve the effectiveness of community warnings, responses and recovery.

State Water Minister Peter Walsh says the new technology will give emergency services a more accurate prediction of flood behaviour while helping individual landowners to assess their risk.

“Floodzoom will use weather forecast models, satellite observations, river gauges and hydrological modelling to improve warnings and emergency response,” he said.

ICA says that while it supports all levels of government in their bid to make information available, it believes flood-mapping data is more urgent.

A spokesman says ICA believes flood mitigation is the area that needs to be focused on, giving insurers a better chance to be able to price the risk.

“A web-based tool for flood warning systems is useful in times of flood, but the bottom line is that insurers need to be provided with flood-mapping data from local and state governments before any flooding occurs to ensure they are able to provide cover,” he told insuranceNEWS.com.au.

The spokesman says the council is working towards setting up a “consistent contemporary digital terrain model” to allow accurate mapping nationwide as part of its 10-point plan to tackle disasters.