The Federal Government has agreed to spend $12.5 million on disaster resilience initiatives in Queensland, SA and WA.

The funding will be spend on projects to reduce communities’ vulnerability to natural hazards, building partnerships between sectors, encouraging a regional approach to mitigation initiatives and considering potential impacts due to climate change.

Western Australia will receive $3 million under this round of funding while South Australia has been allocated $4 million and Queensland $5.8 million.

The federal and state governments agreed to the implementation plans in December last year at a Council of Australian Governments meeting.

Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) CEO Rob Whelan says the joint plans are “a good first step in establishing priorities at a state level that will assist at-risk communities and enhance their ability to withstand extreme weather events in the future”.

“ICA has developed a range of submissions calling for a greater emphasis by government on community adaptation to extreme weather events.”

These include stronger building codes to protect structures from extreme weather hazards, more risk-appropriate use of land, greater emphasis on hazard mitigation infrastructure and assistance for communities to help them better understand the potential risks they face.