4. Improve resilience to natural disasters

Record-breaking bushfires, floods, heat waves and extreme and prolonged drought conditions pose significant risk to communities across NSW, impairing the ability of councils to deliver on their responsibilities to communities.

The scale of natural disasters in recent years, including devastating flooding in the Northern Rivers, makes clear that a far greater emphasis on resilience and adaptation is necessary to ensure communities are better prepared for future disasters. This must include urgent action to address the climate crisis.

All levels of government must be able to plan jointly for a changing climate and deliver well designed, sustainable communities while meeting housing needs. Ensuring we have the right policy settings and tools to do this is critical.

LGNSW is calling on the NSW Government to:

  1. Enable a special purpose 1% increase in local government rates to fund resilience and adaptation measures to current and future climate risks.
  2. Work with local government and industry on policy initiatives in the NSW planning system that will help deliver more resilient and sustainable homes, buildings and places.

LGNSW is calling on the NSW and Australian governments to:

  1. Increase financial support and funding for restoration, remediation and betterment of local community infrastructure both in advance of disasters where the risks are identified and in the recovery stage.
  2. Strengthen Australia’s 2030 emissions reduction target to 50% and implement policy and programs to achieve this target and the 2050 net zero emissions target.
  3. In light of recurring natural disasters, review the cumulative impacts of legislation governing land, water and natural resource management to ensure they protect biodiversity, provide for the resilience of natural systems and provide for water and food security throughout NSW.