Financing Flood Resilient Infrastructure
Future-proofing communities through innovative infrastructure investment
Purpose
FFRI supports SECCCA councils to plan, fund and deliver climate resilient infrastructure in areas exposed to sea level rise, urban stormwater flooding, inland/riverine flooding and coastal inundation. The project closes critical information gaps, identifies priority infrastructure opportunities and explores innovative investment models that councils can use to accelerate action.
Overview
Local governments across Australia are facing escalating and interconnected climate risks, including floods, storms, bushfires, droughts and heatwaves. By 2050, the national cost of natural disaster recovery is projected to exceed $40.3 billion each year. Yet councils’ ability to manage and adapt to these risks is constrained by limited funding across all tiers of government and the growing scale of required investment.
SECCCA is partnering with its seven member councils on the Financing Flood Resilient Infrastructure (FFRI) project to strengthen their capacity to respond to increasing flooding-related risks in South East Melbourne. Supported by $4.14 million from the Australian Government, FFRI will integrate cutting-edge climate and flood modelling with asset and infrastructure planning to develop practical, innovative approaches to financing resilience.
Through cross disciplinary collaboration, FFRI will equip councils to identify, prioritise, fund and implement the next generation of climate resilient infrastructure. Together we will establish a scalable model that supports South East Melbourne and offers a clear pathway for communities across Australia to address growing climate risks.
Outcomes
Knowledge: Local council staff, executive leaders, councillors, and other key stakeholders gain a deeper understanding of the financial impacts to councils — and the broader economic costs to communities — arising from current and future flood-related events.
Partnerships: Strong, trusted relationships established across key stakeholders, fostering ongoing collaboration and a shared commitment to strengthening community flood resilience.
Capability: Councils build their internal capability and capacity to identify flood-related risks and develop effective implementation and investment strategies to address them.
Finance: Local governments are well-positioned to attract private and public finance for flood resilient infrastructure by aligning governance structures, collaborating with other councils to pool financial requirements, and bringing innovative projects to market.