A research paper on resilience has won a government award for its contribution to public policy on disaster resilience.

The Australian Business Roundtable for Disaster Resilience & Safer Communities was recognised at the Resilient Australia Awards last Thursday.

It won praise for its white paper, Building our Nation’s Resilience to Natural Disasters, which calls for more effective mitigation spending.

“We are very pleased the white paper has been recognised by government as a nationally significant piece of work,” IAG MD and CEO Mike Wilkins said.

“Protecting lives and property against natural disasters is an issue that affects all Australians and an award such as this reinforces the need to ensure mitigation remains on the national agenda.”

The paper predicts the cost of natural disasters in Australia will rise from $6.3 billion a year to about $23 billion in 2050, as population density increases and the severity and frequency of extreme weather grows. It says national investment in cost-effective resilience activities can reduce the impact by more than 50%.

Since launching the paper in June the roundtable has been consulting with the Government, Mr Wilkins says. “We are making progress and look forward to all levels of government working as one to ensure resilience policy is as effective and economic across the country as possible.”

IAG and Munich Re are two of six organisations that formed the roundtable in December last year.

The Resilient Australia Awards were sponsored by the Attorney-General’s Department.