NSW Councils have made progress in their fight to ensure their communities are not left financially worse off in the wake of natural disasters.
After a concerted effort from Local Government NSW and its interstate and national counterparts, the Australian Government has today announced it will not proceed with changes to the Disaster Recovery Funding Framework as proposed by the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA).
LGNSW President Mayor Darcy Byrne said the announcement was a major win for councils and communities across NSW, particularly rural, regional and remote councils facing acute financial pressure as they recover from increasingly frequent floods, storms and fires.
“The Australian Government has listened to councils and made sensible changes that recognise the scale and urgency of the disaster recovery challenge facing local communities,” Mayor Byrne said.
“Councils are on the frontline before, during and after disasters. They are the first to arrive and they are the ones who remain when other agencies have moved on. They should not be left carrying millions of dollars in recovery costs for months or years afterwards.”
LGNSW particularly welcomes the Australian Government’s announcement that it will retain the current cost-sharing arrangements, providing up to 75 per cent of eligible recovery costs.
NEMA proposed dropping that contribution to a 50:50 funding model and increasing the threshold for Commonwealth assistance to $2.7 million.
NSW Reconstruction Authority (NSWRA) modelling analysed by LGNSW indicates that if the proposed NEMA reforms had been in place between 2019-20 and 2024-25 then NSW councils collectively would have seen a reduction in Commonwealth funding of more than $800 million.
“Keeping the Commonwealth contribution at 75 per cent gives councils greater certainty to repair essential public assets and restore local services without disaster costs threatening their financial viability or being unfairly shifted onto ratepayers,” Mayor Byrne said.
“The Albanese Government has advised it will review the funding activation threshold and LGNSW looks forward to working with the Australian and NSW Governments on the detail of these revisions to ensure that councils receive the support they need to deal with compounding disasters.
“These reforms must deliver a fairer, easier and more timely system, with streamlined assessment and payment processes and stronger support for resilient infrastructure and betterment so communities are safer when the next disaster strikes.”