Senators have urged Canberra to commit long-term to a joint funding program with state and territory governments for natural disaster resilience.

A committee report on climate change raises concerns about the future of the National Partnership Agreement on Natural Disaster Resilience (NPANDR), after the Federal Government provided no funding estimates for 2019/20 and beyond in its latest budget, citing ongoing negotiations.

While new federal funding arrangements for post-disaster recovery are to be implemented from July, Canberra has not indicated whether the NPANDR will continue.

“The committee would consider the conclusion of the NPANDR as premature and urges the Government to further extend this agreement and review the need for it after the new arrangements are well established and data is available on the funding made available for mitigation activities,” the Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade References Committee says.

Funding for the program next financial year has been cut to $15.1 million from $48.2 million this year. Only three states – NSW, WA and SA – will receive grants from Canberra to address specific natural disaster risk priorities.

The Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) has backed the call to extend the NPANDR.

“Development of effective strategies to strengthen the capability of vulnerable communities to cope with the impact of extreme weather must urgently flow through to significant investments by all levels of government in effective permanent mitigation infrastructure and tightly focused, property-level resilience programs,” spokesman Campbell Fuller told insuranceNEWS.com.au.

“ICA hopes a renewed commitment to NPANDR will help prioritise improvements to national mitigation and resilience strategies, which will be considered as part of the new National Resilience Taskforce.”