After bearing huge claims for the recent series of natural disasters, insurers are calling for a national governmental approach to flood prevention and mitigation.
The head of the Insurance Council of Australia, Rob Whelan, says local, state and federal governments need to act to protect people and property from floods.
"We need to develop a national approach to better deal with the challenges presented by floods," Whelan said in a statement on Thursday.
"Insurers have moved to make necessary changes on issues such as a standard definition for flood.
"Governments must also make changes on issues they are responsible for such as land use, flood mitigation and building standards."
The idea of a national database of flood risk for properties has become popular in Australia after floods in Queensland resulted in three-quarters of the state being declared a disaster zone.
Insurers are also being called upon by the public to be more transparent in what insurance policies actually cover, a recent online survey has shown.
Of the 1600 people surveyed, 42 per cent did not believe insurers should pay claims where householders had not taken out flood cover. But 37 per cent believed that insurers should pay river flood claims even when the cover hadn't been purchased.
Federal Attorney-General Robert McClelland warned that government handouts may discourage people from taking out insurance. He also said that government should instead be focussing on mitigation, rather than compensation, as we reported last week.
For any flood mitigation programs to be successful, better flood mapping is required.
