Over half of all Australian homes at risk of natural disaster

Of the 10.9 million dwellings in Australia, a massive 5.6 million are at risk of bushfire, according to the 2024 Perils Report. Meanwhile, 953,000 homes are at risk of flood, and 17,500 are at risk of coastal erosion.

In total, $5.45 trillion worth of property could be decimated by natural disaster – equivalent to over five times the federal government’s total expenditure for 2023.

Despite the massive risk posed to both the lives and assets of many residents, the report found that only 29 per cent of Australians know about their property’s risk of being impacted by natural disaster.

According to Pellegrino, the housing crisis and climate crisis go hand in hand.

“Australians are struggling,” the CEO said. “Affordable housing is becoming increasingly inaccessible, we have unprecedented cost-of-living pressures, and we are seeing more consistent and extreme weather events which are significantly devaluing our homes.”

“Of greatest concern is that many Australians are willing to live on land facing peril in order to have a place to call home,” he stated.

He warned that conversations about housing and climate resilience “need to stop happening in isolation because they can’t be solved alone”.

“Ultimately, we all bear the collective responsibility for our future, and this is all about starting a conversation on how to better use land,” said Pellegrino.

Dr Nicola Powell, chief of research at Domain, expressed deep concern about the number of new developments that are still being built in at-risk zones.

“Queensland has the highest proportion of at-risk properties when it comes to flooding, while New South Wales faces the largest expected losses in property damage coming in at over half a billion dollars in property damage per year,” said Powell.

“Despite this, there persists a concerning trend of continued construction and residential development in flood-prone zones.”

In weeks to come, Domain plans to host a Future Housing Forum that brings key government ministers, financial institutions and insurance bodies together to address the acute need to protect Australian homes from disaster.