Build back better after natural disasters

Many parts of NSW are at risk from natural hazards like floods, bushfires and coastal erosion. These natural disasters can cause significant damage to homes, businesses and the environment.

Build back better means using the recovery, rehabilitation, and reconstruction phases after a natural disaster to make communities stronger and more resilient. This involves rebuilding homes, businesses, and infrastructure to reduce the risk of damage from future natural disasters.

By building back better, we can:

• reduce the impact of future disasters
• create more liveable communities
• support a stronger economy.

NSW is repeatedly exposed to natural hazards. Without appropriate and timely actions, the impacts and costs of extreme weather events will increase as our population and urbanised areas grow. Natural hazards are increasingly unpredictable as they become more frequent and intense due to climate change. This will have far-reaching consequences for NSW communities.

Making the most of the recovery phase offers the opportunity to build greater community resilience. The Royal Commission into National Natural Disaster Arrangements (RCNNDA) (2020) states increasingly, natural disaster recovery has been recognised as an opportunity to build resilience in disaster-affected communities – in effect, to ‘build back better’. Building back better, to a more resilient standard, will help communities withstand the impacts of future disasters.

Successful natural disaster recovery requires long-term investment in building back better through rebuilding and reconstruction that considers disaster risk reduction and community inclusiveness.

The NSW Government has developed the Guiding Principles to Build Back Better after Natural Disasters (PDF, 1,068 KB). These principles aim to help the NSW Government and local councils create and apply planning responses and controls which deliver more resilient buildings in response to natural disasters.

These decisions should more effectively consider risks from natural hazards and build sustainable, hazard-resilient communities when recovering from natural disasters. The guidance will support the development of long-term resilience to natural hazards in communities through both land-use planning and decision-making after a natural disaster.

This document sets out 5 principles to guide building back better from natural hazards. These principles should be used as guidance to consider in decision-making broadly. Users can consider the principles to help identify:

• if improved resilience outcomes are being delivered
• pathways to incorporate improved resilience
• how natural hazards may impact future resilience.

These guiding principles are a companion to Planning for a more resilient NSW (PDF, 3.2 MB) which highlights the importance of considering natural hazards to reduce the impact on communities.

These case studies provide valuable insights for councils, industry and communities.

The NSW Government is committed to making NSW more resilient to natural hazards. We have developed comprehensive resources, guidelines and packages to help communities prepare for and recover from disasters.