2025 Annual Disaster MANAGEMENT REPORT · Report

SERVICES & ORGANISATION COMMITTEE MEETING                                      9 SEPTEMBER 2025


National Park and Girraween Nature Refuge at Sunrise Beach. This burn was successfully
completed reducing risk to nearby assets by lowering fuel loads while promoting ecological health of
the bushland and national park.

Four council employees recently attended fire crew member training bolstering Councils operational
fire capabilities.

Fire trail maintenance and surface hardening continues on fire trails throughout the shire.

Prescribed burning are continuing as suitable weather conditions permit.

14. Climate Change & Disaster Risk Reduction
The climate change program for Noosa Council is delivered by the Sustainability & Climate Change
team in the Strategy and Environment Directorate in close liaison with the Disaster Management
Team. The information has been included in this report for completeness.

On the ‘prevention’ side of the Prevention, Preparedness, Response and Recovery (PPRR)
framework, Council continues to actively coordinate a number of projects that aim to reduce climate
and disaster risks for the Noosa region. This effort recognises the wealth of the evidence from the
QRA, Deloitte, the Insurance Council of Australia, the Productivity Commission and the World
Resources Institute showing that for every dollar invested in prevention and resilience, up to ten
dollars are returned in avoided response, damage and recovery costs. Risk reduction projects span
across a number of hazards including:
   •   Floods
   •   Bushfires
   •   Heatwaves
   •   Coastal erosion
   •   Storm Tide Inundation
   •   Permanent Inundation
Landslides of note is the significant program of work resulting from the Feb/March 2022 Flood Event,
funded by the QRA’s Flood Risk Management Program.

Sixteen projects ranging from Flood Mitigation Feasibility Assessments at Lake Entrance Boulevard
and Pomona, updating Council’s Flood Management Plan, and conducting a Total Flood Warning
Review, to updating the flood models across the entire local government area continue to be
advanced by the Sustainability & Climate Change Team in partnership with the Disaster
Management Team. Additionally, Noosa and Sunshine Coast Councils have teamed up as part of
the implementation of their Regional Climate Action Roadmap to better understand and evaluate
cascading and compounding risks to Council services when critical infrastructure fails. In partnership
with regional critical infrastructure providers, many of whom are on the LDMG and District Disaster
Management Group (DDMG), Councils have conducted a complex climate risk assessment on the
potential impacts of critical infrastructure failures to Council service delivery, particularly during
extreme events projected within the next ten years. Funded by a $1.1M grant from the QRA’s
Queensland Resilience & Risk Reduction Fund, the project was completed in June 2025, with
adaptation and resilience measures identified for implementation moving forward.

As part of its Coastal Hazards Adaptation Plan, Council continues to advance projects to build
resilience to the risks of erosion, storm tide inundation and permanent inundation due to sea level
rise. These projects range from living foreshores and restoring flood storage areas in the Noosa
River, to redesigning the Noosa Main Beach seawall; investigating potential offshore sources of sand
for beach nourishment; monitoring the entire coastline for change and storm impacts; and building
resilience to natural defense systems such as the vegetated dunes in the Eastern Beaches.