TRANSCRIPT
One-third of Australians are concerned they will be forced to leave their homes, as natural disasters affect more and more people across the country.
A Climate Council survey of one and a half thousand Australians shows more than half of respondents personally experienced a climate disaster while living in Australia.
Heatwaves where the most commonly felt hazard, followed by floods and fires.
Some of the worst hit areas for extreme weather-related disasters revealed in the survey were Queensland and New South Wales, where whiplash weather extremes are familiar to many.
Retired Major General Peter Dunn, the former Commissioner of the ACT Emergency Services Authority, says he has observed a huge increase in anxiety through those states in particular.
"People are now looking very carefully at the real estate upon which they sit and say, should I remain here? Now, 99% of those people want to remain where they are. They don't want to move, but can I stay here is the question. And one of the drivers for thinking that.... my property is becoming uninsurable. And that is a big factor in a lot of people's mental health in that they have, as we all do, you and I and everybody else invest or try and invest in a roof over our heads. And that is the biggest investment we typically make in our lives. ''
Mr Dunn has first hand experience dealing with natural disasters.
"We got hit by the fires in black summer, a month later we were knee-deep in flood. And you go, oh my god, what's going on here? And that has continued. So you get this constant pressure on people worrying about what's going to come next. "
Rising insurance premiums to the point of unaffordability are also of big concern, but, there is some good news for people living in bushfire prone areas.
"So those customers of NRMA insurance who have a three star rating above and have certified that with the Resilient Building Council, 100 to $500 is a significant reduction to them."
A small amount of money for some people, but five hundred dollars could mean the difference between life and death for people living in bushfire zones, facing ever increasing insurance premiums.
N-R-M-A Insurance, along with Suncorp group, are the first insurance providers in the country to offer a financial incentive to people who have their homes assessed for bushfire resilience.
It’s a new initiative NRMA Chief Executive Julie Batch hopes will catch on.
"One of the biggest drivers of costs in insurance at the moment is the increasing costs of natural perils, and that's really being all the way across Australia in every state. So the more that we can do as a country, as an industry, and at an individual level to protect our properties, the better we understand that then yes, I do think you'll see that over time."
The bushfire resilience assessments are available online and through a new app operated by the Resilient Building Council, which developed the software through government funding.
The council's Crystal Fleming says thousands of people have already signed up.
"In the five months since it was launched, we've had 19,000 households access that tool and 80% of those households have taken a number of actions . So it's really about empowering people with the knowledge and understanding of what they can do and what's actually going to measurably reduce that risk. "
Financial incentives for bushfire preparedness are not a new concept, consumer group CHOICE has been advocating in this space for years.
"There was kind of a coalition of advocacy groups who were recognising that there was these problems across the insurance market that were affecting both our supporters and clients differently in a different ways. And we recognised the need to come together and sort of put those problems together and recommended a bunch of solutions to take to government to ensure that people were protected."
Bea Sherwood is a Senior Campaigns and Policy Advisor at CHOICE, she says lower insurance premiums will encourage more people to bring their homes up to code.
"44% of the people, policy holders that we surveyed, 44% of them would consider investing in home safety measures if it would lower the cost of the premium. And we've spoken to a range of insurers and it was something that some of them were looking at"
Ms Sherwood applauds the decision by N-R-M-A insurance and Sun Corp group to lower premiums, but she would like to see the government do more.
"We're also going to need financial assistance for people that can't afford to include mitigation measures in their own homes. So I think the government should be supporting and allocating funding to assist property owners on low incomes "
