Disaster early warning and communications infrastructure
As the frequency and severity of natural disasters increases due to climate change, early warning systems present an opportunity to improve the safety and wellbeing of communities in high-risk zones. This will enable:
- communities to better prepare and evacuate, saving lives and reducing property damage,
- the effective and rapid mobilisation of emergency services and resources to areas of priority, based on live data
- the protection of exposed assets and improved network resilience and redundancy to reduce service disruptions when community service dependence is highest (especially for telecommunications infrastructure which was found to be exposed in recent disasters, leading to service discontinuity).
Adequate early warning systems could provide live and accurate data for cross-border and inter-agency disaster operations. Supported by interoperable communications and data sharing, live data is critical to the effective coordination and response of the emergency services (including RFS, SES, Fire and Rescue, Surf Life Saving Australia, ambulance services, ADF).
The 2019 Australian Infrastructure Audit identified that Australia lacks comprehensive resilience strategies for its infrastructure assets and networks.
There is significant government and community focus on mitigating the impacts of natural disasters following the 2022 floods in Queensland and New South Wales, the 2021 bushfires in Western Australia and the 2019-20 bushfire season.
Strategic Fit
The proposal aligns strongly with state and federal priorities relating to natural hazard risk management, which emphasise the role of government in providing risk information to communities, and the role that infrastructure plays in helping communities withstand and recover from disasters.
Societal Impact
Infrastructure Australia has estimated the opportunity to reduce the impacts of natural disasters through early warning systems and more resilient communications infrastructure as $874 million per year in 2021. Early warning systems would improve the wellbeing, liveability and safety of communities in disaster-prone areas, as well as reduce the losses in lives and livelihoods as a result of disaster events.
Deliverability
Potential technology solutions exist, are feasible and have been delivered overseas as well as in Australia, albeit at a smaller scale to date (for example, the Latrobe Valley Information Network). Such solutions are scalable and easily deployable to the places and at times of highest need. There are multiple delivery pathways including public investment in early warning networks in case of extreme weather events, or by private infrastructure to build network resilience & redundancy. Private infrastructure owners could then provide public or emergency services access to live data from in-situ sensory networks.
We encourage states, territories and the Australian Government to fully assess this opportunity in their respective locations (Stage 1 of Infrastructure Australia’s Assessment Framework) prior to identifying and analysing potential investment options (Stage 2 of Infrastructure Australia’s Assessment Framework) and make submissions in response to this proposal.
Refer to Infrastructure Glossary for terms and definitions.