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| FLYER ISSUE 10: OCTOBER 2024 | |
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Hello and welcome to the October 2024 FMA Monthly Flyer. It’s almost time for our FMA November Quarterly Meetings so I hope you
have put these dates in your calendar: - Queensland Quarterly Meeting — Wednesday 6 November 2024 — Bundaberg (Bundaberg Regional Council). The afternoon Workshop is ‘Flood Evacuation — Planning and Learning from Past Events’
- NSW/ACT Quarterly Meeting — Thursday 14 November 2024 — Sydney (Mercure Sydney Hotel). The afternoon Workshop is ‘Flood Insurance and Review of the FMA/ICA Flood Insurance Fact Sheets’.
More information about our November Quarterly Meetings is provided later in this Flyer. The 2023 World Risk Poll, released in June 2024, provides the second edition of the World Risk Poll Resilience Index – a unique measure of how prepared people and communities worldwide are to handle adversity such as disasters based on their circumstances and perceptions of support systems
(https://www.preventionweb.net/publication/world-risk-poll-2024-report-resilience-changing-world). The World Risk Poll is the first and only global, nationally representative study of the worry about, and the harm from, risks to people’s safety. The Poll is based on nearly 147,000 interviews conducted by Gallup in 142 countries and territories throughout 2023 and covers places where little to no official data on safety and risks exist. In 2021, the Lloyd’s Register Foundation released its first World Risk Poll Resilience Index. In the latest report the second iteration of this Resilience Index is presented which, for the first time, shows how resilience is changing over time. Here is a brief overview of the key
findings: - Overall, the world’s resilience remains largely similar in 2023 compared to 2021 with three-quarters of countries and territories (90 of 120) seeing no significant change in Resilience Index scores.
- However, while overall
resilience was stable at a global level from 2021 to 2023, resilience at the individual level fell, with significant drops in over a third (42) of countries. Many of the largest declines were observed in Eastern Europe. This decline was driven by a global increase, from 36% to 43%, in the number of people who say they can do nothing to protect themselves and their families in a disaster.
- The proportion of the global population that has experienced a disaster related to a natural hazard in the past five years has increased by 3 percentage points from 2021 to 2023, from 27% to 30%, primarily driven by increased experience of flooding.
- 30% of people globally who experienced a disaster in the past five years received no warning,
with rural, less educated and less financially resilient populations significantly less likely to be warned. However, over three-quarters (77%) of those not warned own a mobile phone, presenting an important opportunity for investment in mobile/cell-broadcast early warning systems.
Looking forward to seeing you in person at the upcoming November
Quarterly Meetings. Sue Ribbons FMA President
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BUNDABERG FLOOD EVACUATION WORKSHOP ON 6 NOVEMBER
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FMA is visiting Bundaberg for our Queensland Chapter Quarterly Meeting and Workshop on 6 November, and is looking forward to meeting FRM colleagues from across the region. Bundaberg Regional Council will be sharing its experience in flood evacuation during the afternoon Workshop. The stability of Paradise Dam and subsequent reviews on flood evacuation capability by the Inspector General Emergency Management (IGEM) provide good insights into the challenges of planning for an evacuation due to dam failure. Learnings on how Bundaberg has addressed this will be discussed. Presenters will include Public
Works and Sunwater. Please try to get to Bundy for what will be a great information sharing and networking event. And if you can’t get there in person, the Meeting will be accessible online, as usual. Thank you to Bundaberg Regional Council for hosting the event and showcasing some of the local flood issues and solutions. Details are at
the FMA website: floods.asn.au/meetings Please register for on-site attendance at:
FMA-qldnov.eventbrite.com.au
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WANT TO LEARN MORE ABOUT FLOOD INSURANCE?
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Then make sure you are registered to attend FMA’s next Sydney Workshop, Flood Insurance and Review of FMA/ICA Flood Insurance Fact Sheets. Presented by the FMA Flood Insurance Working Group, the Workshop will cover the role of flood insurance, current insurance issues, the information needs of stakeholders and end users, and how the information should be made available. The Workshop will be used to update Members on progress, and to gather feedback to assist in finalising the project. Working Group members include representatives from the Insurance Council of Australia, IAG, the National Emergency Management Agency, the NSW Reconstruction Authority and Blacktown City Council. Recent Sydney FMA Workshops have been so popular that we have been unable to accommodate everyone who wished to attend, so for the 14 November Quarterly Meeting and Workshop we are moving to the more spacious Mercure Hotel, Sydney. Details of the 14
November NSW/ACT Chapter Quarterly Meeting and Flood Insurance Workshop are at the FMA website: floods.asn.au/meetings Please register for on-site attendance at: http://FMA-nswnov.eventbrite.com.au
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2022 FLOOD CLAIMS REPORT RELEASED
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The House of Representatives Standing Committee on Economics has released the report of its inquiry into insurers’ responses to claims arising from the 2022 floods. The inquiry terms of reference include: - experiences of policyholders
- timeframes for resolving claims
- accessibility and affordability of hydrology reports
- affordability of insurance coverage
- the impact of land use planning decisions and disaster mitigation efforts on the
availability and affordability of insurance.
The Chair of the committee, Dr Daniel Mulino MP, said the report’s title Flood failure to future fairness reflected “the collective failure by insurers to meet their obligations to policyholders after the 2022 floods, and our hope for a fairer system in the future through the 86
recommendations in this report.” Recommendations include standardising key terms across all insurance contracts through legislated definitions, including “rainfall runoff”, and “storm surge”; and regulatory guidance by ASIC to clarify that insurers cannot deny claims based solely
on expert reports that do not link the damage observed with the reported cause, including for hydrology and building reports. The report responds to the growing number of uninsurable properties at very high risk. Recommendations include: - disclosure of flood risk levels through property conveyancing and rental agreements
- exploring regulatory mechanisms to discourage banks from financing new housing developments at a 1-in-100 flood risk or higher
- changes to building codes to boost flood resilience
- extending the Bushfire Resilience Rating App to flood risk
- requiring insurers
to reduce premiums after household-level mitigation works
- further development of buyback and resilience programs for the highest-risk properties.
The inquiry report is available the inquiry website.
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RESILIENT AUSTRALIA AWARDS NATIONAL CEREMONY LIVESTREAM
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The Resilient Australia Awards National Ceremony will be livestreamed from Canberra via Zoom 20 November. The Awards celebrate and
promote initiatives that build whole of community resilience to disasters and emergencies around Australia. The Awards recognise collaboration and innovative thinking across a broad range of sectors, and initiatives that strengthen disaster resilience with communities, institutions, and the private sector. Winners from each state and territory are considered for the National Awards, which are in 10 categories, including the new National Research for Impact Award. The Resilient Australia Awards are sponsored by the Australian Government in
partnership with states and territories, and managed by the Australian Institute for Disaster Resilience. Some of the finalists are: Resilient Australia National Research for Impact Award Willow Forsyth - Innovative model explaining community flood preparedness attitudes, strategies, and dynamics FMA Members would recall that Willow was the recipient of the 2024 FMA Harold Sternbeck Medal for her presentation on this subject at the FMA National Conference. Resilient Australia National Government Award NSW Reconstruction Authority - Australia's first State Disaster Mitigation Plan Resilient Australia National Local Government Award Latrobe Council - Devastating Floodwaters Unite a Community - Latrobe Council Flood Mitigation Project Cred Consulting - Building Back Northern Rivers Guideline Register for Zoom attendance at: https://www.aidr.org.au/events/50103?locationId=50104
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FMA 2025 - FLOOD KNOWS NO BOUNDARIES: CALL FOR ABSTRACTS CLOSING 9 DECEMBER
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The theme for the May 2025 FMA National Conference has been set: “Flood knows no boundaries”, highlighting that floods can affect any area, emphasising the importance of collaboration across states, regions, catchments, communities, and sectors to effectively address and manage flood risks. FMA2025 will be a groundbreaking event, our first National Conference to be hosted by our colleagues in Victoria. The venue is Pullman Melbourne on the Park, on the threshold of Melbourne’s business, dining, sports and cultural precincts, and opposite the Fitzroy Gardens. The Call for Abstracts is now open, and the content can be technical or non-technical to suit our varied audience. You don’t need to be a “flood expert” to provide a presentation! We really value the practical experiences of Councillors, flood committee members and community representatives. The closing date for abstracts is Monday 9 December 2024, so please start planning your presentation now and reserve 13 to 16 May 2025 for the FMA National Conference in your calendar, diary and budget now. Details are at: floodplainconference.com
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MOBILE FLOOD BARRIER DEMO DAY IN ALBURY
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FMA Member Bluemont has announced that it is holding a ‘Wet Demo Day’ of its Boxwall Mobile Flood Barrier in Albury on 25 November. Boxwall Barriers will be set up in various configurations and on various surfaces to demonstrate
their effectiveness under hydraulic load/flood conditions.
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It will be similar to a demo day held earlier this year in Penrith, Sydney. Hopefully the Bluemont ducks will feature again, as they did at the flood barrier demonstration at the 2016 Nowra FMA Conference. Information on Bluemont’s flood barriers is at: https://www.bluemont.com.au/flood-prevention For event details please contact Paul Hart: paul.hart@bluemont.com.au |
YFM MONTHLY FEATURE
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Regional YFM Networking Event Do you interact with the floodplain management world and are located near Rockhampton? Join YFM for our inaugural
Regional Network Event on Friday 29th November! Located at Victoria Park Bowls Club in Rockhampton, this event will offer a relaxed networking opportunity over bowls. Join to learn a bit more about Floodplain Management Australia and how we support early-career professionals throughout Queensland. Secure your ticket at: https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/young-floodplain-managers-regional-networking-bowls-event-tickets-1066612158679?aff=oddtdtcreator Volunteers Needed With the close of 2024 comes the time to seek new volunteers to join the YFM QLD committee in 2025. We aim for a location and career diverse committee. We are proud to currently have on the committee engineers, planners and economists from both SEQLD and regional areas, working in both the private sector and consulting. If you know of persons who have a passion for supporting early career professionals in the floodplain management industry, please send their name and contact details to yfm@floods.asn.au and we’ll contact them for interest.
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POSITIONS VACANT
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No current vacancies.
If you are interested
in promoting a vacant position with us, please contact us.
Please remember that while we circulate Vacant Positions in this monthly Flyer, sometimes position closing deadlines don't
align with the time of its distribution. Make sure you head to floods.asn.au/jobs to check for Vacant Positions that may not be listed here due to shorter closing
dates.
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TRAVELLING CONFERENCE SWAG
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Have you got a photo of your FMA Swag?
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