Climate Council forecasts 1 in 25 Australian homes uninsured by 2030

Based on the percentage of “high risk” properties by 2030, the top 10 most at-risk electorates are:

Nicholls, Victoria: 27% or 25,801 properties
Richmond, New South Wales: 20% or 22,274 properties
Maranoa, Queensland: 15% or 9,551 properties
Moncrieff, Queensland: 14% or 18,032 properties
Wright, Queensland: 14% or 12,140 properties
Brisbane, Queensland: 13% or 19,355 properties
Griffith, Queensland: 13% or 14,812 properties
Indi, Victoria: 11% or 11,215 properties
Page, New South Wales: 11% or 11,691 properties
Hindmarsh, South Australia: 11% or 10,775 properties

Climate Council CEO Amanda McKenzie commented: “Climate change is playing out in real time here, and many Australians now find it impossible to insure their homes and businesses. Over the past eight years, the Federal Government has failed to meaningfully tackle climate change or prepare Australians for the worsening extreme weather events that we are now experiencing.”

Read more: Soaring home repair costs threaten insurance industry

Focusing on the future of home insurance in Australia, the council launched a new interactive climate risk map based on hundreds of millions of data points analysed by Climate Valuation. The map enables users to plug in their suburb, local government area, or electorate to discover the risk of fires, floods, and extreme winds based on low, medium, and high emission scenarios across decades.

Climate Valuation CEO Dr Karl Mallon said the team analysed the impacts of climate hazards on 14 million Australian addresses to feed information to the map to show the physical risk that extreme weather and climate change poses to homes across the country over the next decade and beyond.

“It’s striking how the number of affected properties grows under higher emissions scenarios. Reducing emissions would potentially save thousands of homes from worsening damage. I encourage all homeowners and buyers to ensure they fully understand the local hazards and get a property-specific report on their risk,” Mallon said.

The insurance industry has been working on addressing underinsurance as climate change causes more frequent and severe weather events across Australia. The Insurance Council of Australia (ICA), for example, calls for all Australian governments to boost funding to make the country more resilient to extreme weather.

“Insurers and banks are already quantifying the risks from climate change. It’s essential that Australians inform themselves about these risks to their safety and financial wellbeing, which are well known to financial institutions and governments,” Mallon said.