A report by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute has warned public agencies to act fast on climate change before insurers refuse to cover the rising risk.

The report, Hardening Australia: Climate change and national disaster resilience, urges more work by emergency and disaster management organisations to deal with the effects of climate change.

"Relying on insurance alone as the tool to recover from extreme weather events is not feasible," the report says. "In the long run, insurance will simply not be available for some risks."

Among its key recommendations is a proposal that climate change be included among recognised threats to homeland security.

The report claims the measure "will add urgency to the issue of climate change adaptation and pose questions for long-term defence force structure decisions in areas such as remote sensing, logistics and military engineering".

It also calls on government bodies to accelerate national approaches to disaster prevention, preparation, response and recovery arrangements.

"If the true price of the risk isn't reflected in the premium, other insurance holders will be subsidising them," the report said. "If people don't carry this insurance, all taxpayers will bear the cost of any subsequent government bailout of affected property owners."

Publication of the report follows a Federal Budget commitment of more than $200 million over four years to improve disaster resilience measures.