The Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) has called for the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) to assume national responsibility for the collection, maintenance and publication of flood information.

In a submission to the Queensland Floods Commission of Inquiry, the council calls for the Water Act 2007 be amended to give the bureau the power to collect and maintain existing flood data and other flood information from state and local governments.

The four-page submission says a single national body should co-ordinate the collection and publication of information and maps on flood risk in order to “avoid overlapping roles... enhance accountability of the collection agency and streamline access to information for the community”.

ICA also advocates the creation of a flood information taskforce “to assist the BOM, in an initial implementation period, to examine what improvements can be made in Australia regarding flood information”.

Acknowledging the additional costs for the bureau in such an arrangement, it says increased Federal Government funding is needed.

“This funding should be used, during the first year of operation, to establish enhanced flood information capability, gather all of the required flood information and, at the end of the first year of operation, make further recommendations on improvements to information relevant to flood.

“Publicly available flood mapping and other flood impact information is crucial to community understanding and risk management of flood risks and the contribution of the insurance industry to the risk management of flood events.”

Submissions to the commission close at 5pm today, with public hearings scheduled to begin on April 11 and the interim report due in August.