SYDNEY – Buying a home in Australia is a high-stakes decision, yet many households are doing so without a clear understanding of a property’s exposure to climate-related risks, particularly flooding. A new analysis highlights that Australia is a significant outlier among comparable countries for not making property-level flood risk data easily accessible to the public, despite this information already being used by the insurance industry to set premiums.
Flooding is a growing and financially damaging problem in Australia. Experts say a property’s flood risk is a complex interplay of topography and hydrology, and this information is often hidden from the public. While resources like Queensland’s Property Level Flood Information Portal exist, they are fragmented and not available nationwide.
The country’s most comprehensive resource, the National Flood Information Database (NFID), estimates flood risk for millions of homes but is a proprietary tool used exclusively by insurers. This is a contentious issue, as much of the data within the NFID was originally created through public funds from local and state governments.
In contrast, other nations have embraced transparency:
• The Netherlands offers a government website with detailed, address-specific flood risk information.
• The United States provides public flood maps and requires flood risk disclosures during property sales.
• The United Kingdom makes national flood risk maps publicly available.
Proponents argue that providing this data to the public would lead to more informed decision-making, prevent “insurance bill shock,” and encourage homeowners to take measures to mitigate flood damage. Making the data public would also support community discussions about acceptable levels of risk and guide long-term urban development and relocation strategies.
Experts note that while making existing data public is a crucial first step, there is also a need for new, updated, and higher-quality flood mapping to accurately reflect the growing threat of climate change. The expense of such an undertaking would be more easily justified if the resulting data were made widely available for the benefit of all Australians.