MAYORAL MINUTES · 2026-07-16 Mayoral Minute - DRFA Funding

proposed reforms, that safeguard would be removed, meaning Queensland would never receive
more than 50 per cent Commonwealth funding regardless of the scale or severity of the event.
These changes come at a time when disaster impacts and recovery costs are escalating rapidly.
Queensland’s disaster recovery expenditure increased from approximately $3 billion between 2016
and 2021 to $6 billion after 2021, with projected costs for the 2025–26 period estimated at $17 billion.
For Noosa Council, the impacts are tangible. Since the introduction of the current DRFA framework
in 2018, Council has received approximately $198.2 million in disaster recovery funding under all
categories. Under the proposed arrangements, this would have resulted in an additional cost burden
of around $27.7 million for the State / Council - a cost shift of approximately 22 per cent.
The impact to recovery of returning essential assets such as roads, drainage assets and waterway
crossings is concerning. Since 2021, Noosa has received funding to return these assets to functional
use at a value of $182 million. A shortfall of 22 per cent in future disasters is most concerning as it
will delay recovery and impact everyday life for residents and visitors to the shire.
The reforms would also significantly reduce support for resilience and betterment initiatives that
enable damaged infrastructure to be rebuilt stronger and more resilient to future disasters. Since
2018, Noosa has delivered three Betterment projects at a combined value of $4.9 million. The most
recent and most substantial being the realignment of the water main and bridge build at Schreibers
Road, ensuring water security for the entire region.
These programs have delivered substantial long-term benefits to the Noosa community by reducing
future disaster risk, improving resilience and ensuring better value for public investment.
In addition to infrastructure funding, the proposed reforms would affect several existing disaster
recovery programs. Since 2018, Noosa has accessed approximately $14.78 million in Category C
and Category D funding initiatives, including:
    Bushfire Recovery Exceptional Assistance
    Local Economic Recovery activities and assets
    Extraordinary clean-up programs
    Recovery and Resilience Grants
    Recreation and Community Asset recovery programs
    Voluntary Home Buy-Back programs
    Flood studies, risk assessments, management studies and intelligence systems.
The reforms may also impact practical support provided during disasters, including evacuation
centres, sandbagging operations, emergency response activities and the rapid repair of roads and
essential infrastructure. Increased funding thresholds for smaller disaster events could also leave
some communities without support following localised disasters.
The proposed changes to Category C and Category D funding are highly concerning. While the
discussion paper suggests additional support may still be available in “genuinely extraordinary
circumstances”, it provides no clear definition of what constitutes such circumstances or how
assistance would be activated.
I am also concerned about proposals to standardise disaster recovery assistance nationally. It is
difficult to envisage how a one-size-fits-all approach could adequately address the diverse needs,
challenges and recovery priorities of communities across Australia.
These proposed changes fail to reflect the reality faced by disaster-prone regions such as Noosa
and Queensland more broadly. They risk reducing the resources available for recovery, resilience
and preparedness at a time when natural disasters are becoming more frequent, more severe and
more costly.
This past summer, 71 of Queensland's 77 local government areas were impacted by disasters,
including two cyclones and extensive flooding that affected much of the state over a five-month
period. The proposed reforms would place an unsustainable financial burden on state and local
governments and, ultimately, on the communities they serve.
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