Millions of Australian homes are at risk of natural disasters and most homeowners are unaware, leaving them sitting ducks and potentially uninsurable, according to Domain's 2024 Perils Report.
Domain CEO, Jason Pellegrino, emphasized the urgent need for Australia to build viable, livable communities as the climate changes.
Mr Pellegrino said:
"Australians are struggling.
Affordable housing is increasingly inaccessible, we're facing unprecedented cost-of-living pressures, and more consistent and extreme weather events are significantly devaluing our homes.
Our greatest concern is that many Australians are living on land facing peril just to have a place to call home."
Alarmingly, the research shows that only 29% of Australians know about their property's risk of being impacted by a natural disaster, and only 20% know where to seek information about these risks.
Mr. Pellegrino stressed that conversations about the housing and climate crisis need to be integrated because they cannot be solved in isolation.
He further commented:
“Ultimately, we all share the collective responsibility for our future, and this forum is about starting a conversation on how to better use our land."
Domain's Chief of Research and Economics, Dr. Nicola Powell, highlighted the report's findings, which show just how at-risk Australian communities are and the role we all play in making a change.
Dr Powell said:
"We all remember the dark days of Black Summer in 2019/20 and the fatal bushfires that engulfed so much of our country."
The report shows that 5.6 million Australian homes are at risk of bushfires, which is almost half of all properties.
She further commented:
The unfortunate reality is that as the risk of bushfires increases, the value of these homes decreases.
Additionally, Queensland has the highest proportion of at-risk properties due to flooding, while New South Wales faces the largest expected losses in property damage, totalling over half a billion dollars per year.
Despite this, there is a concerning trend of continued construction and residential development in flood-prone zones.
While these findings are alarming, the report also highlights opportunities for change."
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