The Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) praised the Queensland Government’s budget commitments to address community resilience to extreme weather events.

The State Government announced that it will provide $741 million in additional funds to help protect Queenslanders, addressing concerns across the state after severe flooding earlier this year.

The funds, which will be co-funded by the Federal Government, match the amount called for by the ICA in its “Building a more resilient Australia” report released in February.

The budget also extended the Queensland Government’s $13.1 million Resilience and Risk Reduction Fund to aid disaster prevention projects and improve protections against increasingly costly weather events.

“The ICA commends the Palaszczuk Government for this very significant increase in resilience funding, made in response to the devastating floods experienced in South-East Queensland in February and March this year,” ICA CEO Andrew Hall said.

The ICA also welcomed a $170 million commitment to rectify public infrastructure damaged by flooding and a $900 million boost to fire and emergency services resources.

Mr Hall says he’s delighted that the Queensland Government has heard the calls of the ICA and other insurance groups.

“Last year the ICA was critical of the Government’s budget for its lack of funding in this area, but it’s clear that this has now been reversed,” Mr Hall said.

“Queensland is now leading the nation in terms of resilience and mitigation funding which is critical given the state’s exposure.”