Measuring the impact of environmental risk and climate change perceptions

For 27 years, .id have been Australia's premier independent demographics and population forecasting experts. We've told the story of Australia's people and communities to hundreds of local government authorities through our tools and our expertise. Our Community Views service helps a diverse and growing number of councils and other organisations credibly, comprehensively and efficiently represent their community’s views in policy and advocacy. Our sphere of influence also expanded through our partnership with Land Insight, a leading environmental data-driven insights and solutions provider in Australia. With this expertise, .id can help councils understand and plan for environmental risk.

Costs of natural disasters in Australia

Australia is dubbed the "Lucky country", but even here, we are not safe from natural disasters and environmental risks. We never need to look back more than a couple of years to be reminded of natural disasters that impact and forever change some communities. The 2021 report by the Australian Business Roundtable for Disaster Resilience & Safer Communities expects the current natural disasters cost of $38 billion per year to the Australian economy to increase to at least $73 billion by 2060 due to climate change, population growth and property value growth. Coastal inundation and bushfire total costs are forecasted to increase by at least 50%, whereas flood and tropical cyclone costs by 31%.

In an "Adapting to Climate Change" webinar recently hosted by the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI), it was declared that around 18 million Australians, or almost 70% of our population, lived in an LGA impacted by at least one natural disaster during 2022.

Over the past decade, the community's belief in climate change has steadily evolved. According to research from CSIRO conducted between 2010 and 2014, around 80% of Australians acknowledged the existence of climate change. Based on .id's Community Views 'Living in Australia 2024' study of over 5,000 Australians, this number has grown to around nine in ten (91%).

However, there remains some disagreement over its causes. While nearly half of Australians (46%) believe climate change is mostly or entirely caused by human activity, 30% think it is a mix of human and natural causes, and 9% attribute it mostly to natural causes.

What is "environmental risk"?

Environmental risk refers to the potential for loss of property and infrastructure, disruption to the way of life and the economy, and injuries or fatalities arising from exposure to environmental hazards. Some examples of environmental risk include:

• Natural hazards: Bushfire hazard, flood hazard, erosion hazard
  
  
• Pollution hazards: Contaminated land, potentially contaminated areas, emissions and toxic substances
  
  
• Ground hazards: Soil risk, subsidence hazard, earthquake hazard

The roles of government with environmental risk and climate change

Climate change responsibilities in Australia are divided across multiple levels:

1. National Level: Agencies like the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment, and Water, the National Adaptation Policy Office, the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, and the National Emergency Management Agency manage climate policies and actions.
   
   
2. State/Territory Level: Each State has distinct frameworks for managing climate issues, including regional adaptation plans, risk mitigation funding, and emergency services.
   
   
3. Local Level: Local governments handle planning, infrastructure, and community engagement to address climate impacts.

Environmental risks to local government

In their "Climate change risks to local government" resource, the Victorian Department for Environment, Land, Water and Planning states:

"The essential services and infrastructure councils provide to the community are vulnerable to a range of climate hazards. Because of their local knowledge and close connection to the community, councils are often best placed to help the local community reduce risks and adapt to climate change."

Council domains requiring knowledge of environmental risks include:

Data from our 'Living in Australia 2024' study shows that many local communities are feeling the effects of climate change, and would like to see local government take action.

Among those who believe in climate change, 45% report that their local area is already feeling its effects, with an additional 40% expecting it to experience impacts during their lifetime.

For those that believe the climate is changing, and feel their local area is (or will be) affected by climate change, there were a range of views as to the best actions to address climate change in the local area. Among the top responses were biodiversity protection and enhancement (64%), education for residents (58%) and reduction of pollution (58%).

What are local and State governments doing right now?

Local government involvement in environmental risk planning varies across Australia. Many LGAs implement "Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Plans", "Coastal Hazard Assessment and Management Plans",  "Local Environment Plans (LEPs) and Development Control Plans (DCPs)." However, specific plans like "Public Health and Wellbeing Plans" are unique to Victoria, with others such as "Local Disaster Management Plans" more common in Queensland and "Urban Heat Island Mitigation Plans" more common (to our best knowledge) in South Australia.

Victoria’s Climate Change Act (2017) mandates council adaptation plans, and the Department of Health requires "Municipal Public Health and Wellbeing Plans" to assess health risks from environmental factors. In New South Wales, the Department of Planning, Industry and Environment's guide integrates climate change risk into the IP&R framework, ensuring that all councils incorporate climate risk into their strategic planning and reporting.

The Community Views team has recently supported the Victorian Government to understand what communities across the Gippsland Region believe needs to change to advance quality of life over the next ten years, and the role that energy transition can play in that regard. The work ensures that all levels of government and industry have a shared understanding as to the benefits local communities are looking for through Gippsland’s long runway of energy transition projects.

What can we do for you?

Analysis of environmental risk does not have a consistent approach across Australia. Some local government authorities are more equipped than others to undertake or project manage such work, and access to relevant, accurate and reliable data varies. This is where .id can help.

We can tell you about the types of risks across the land and their extent, while understanding who is living in areas of environmental risk, what their sociodemographic characteristics are, how they compare and differ to the rest of the population and also, how those at-risk areas will grow and change in the future, a robust measure of environmental risk, powered by our national population forecasts.

We provide a local government authority with a comprehensive understanding of environmental risk within a municipality, the types of risk present, the extent of risk on your population, and the future impacts of environmental risk on the area's population.

With these powerful insights, councils can:

• Plan for adaptation and resilience in their community,
• Focus efforts where analysis states environmental risk to population and housing is highest,
• Meet insurance obligations,
• Plan budgets,
• Submit grant and other funding applications,
• Comply with regulations and program guidelines,
• Address community concerns or
• Update a previous climate change risk assessment

We can also help you understand the local perceptions towards climate change, how those vary by community, age and sociodemographic profile of residents, the climate change impact locals are noticing and what they think are the best ways to address effects of climate change via our Community Views service.

Collaborate with us

We have a desire to collaborate with Councils needing information about the impacts of floods, fire, inundation on the population and households and understand more about how we can be of assistance.

If you have a need to quantify environmental risk in your LGA or gain a better understanding of your community's views towards climate change, its effects on the community and how the community believes these issues may be best addressed, please contact us.