The impacts of climate change on sea level rise (SLR) will adversely affect infrastructure in a significant number of Australian coastal communities. A first-pass national assessment has identified the extent and value of infrastructure potentially exposed to impacts from future climate by utilizing a number of fundamental national scale datasets. A mid-resolution digital elevation model was used to model a series of SLR projections incorporating 100 year return-period storm-tide estimates where available (maximum tidal range otherwise). The modeled inundation zones were overlaid with a national coastal geomorphology dataset, titled the Smartline, which identified coastal landforms that are potentially unstable under the influence of rising sea level. These datasets were then overlain with Geoscience Australia's National Exposure Information System (NEXIS) to quantify the number and value of infrastructure elements (including residential and commercial buildings, roads and rail) potentially vulnerable to a range of sea-level rise and coastal recession estimates for the year 2100. In addition, we examined the changes in exposure under a range of future Australian Bureau of Statistics population scenarios. We found that over 270,000 residential buildings are potentially vulnerable to the combined impacts of inundation and recession by 2100 (replacement value of approximately $A72 billion). Nearly 250,000 residential buildings were found to be potentially vulnerable to inundation only ($A64 billion). Queensland and New South Wales have the largest vulnerability considering both value of infrastructure and the number of buildings affected. Nationally, approximately 33,000 km of road and 1,500 km of rail infrastructure are potentially at risk by 2100.

Geoscience Australia (GA) is currently undertaking a process of revising the Australian National Earthquake Hazard Map using modern methods and an updated catalogue of Australian earthquakes. This map is a key component of Australia's earthquake loading standard, AS1170.4. Here we present an overview of work being undertaken within the GA Earthquake Hazard Project towards delivery of the next generation earthquake hazard map. Knowledge of the recurrence and magnitude (including maximum magnitude) of historic and pre-historic earthquakes is fundamental to any Probabilistic Seismic Hazard Assessment (PSHA). Palaeoseismological investigation of neotectonic features observed in the Australian landscape has contributed to the development of a Neotectonic Domains model which describes the variation in large intraplate earthquake recurrence behaviour across the country. Analysis of fault data from each domain suggests that maximum magnitude earthquakes of MW 7.0-7.5±0.2 can occur anywhere across the continent. In addition to gathering information on the pre-historic record, more rigorous statistical analyses of the spatial distribution of the historic catalogue are also being undertaken. Earthquake magnitudes in Australian catalogues were determined using disparate magnitude formulae, with many local magnitudes determined using Richter attenuation coefficients prior to about 1990. Consequently, efforts are underway to standardise magnitudes for specific regions and temporal periods, and to convert all earthquakes in the catalogue to moment magnitude. Finally, we will review the general procedure for updating the national earthquake hazard map, including consideration of Australian-specific ground-motion prediction equations. We will also examine the sensitivity of hazard estimates to the assumptions of certain model components in the hazard assessment.

The development of climate change adaptation policies must be underpinned by a sound understanding of climate change risk. As part of the Hyogo Framework for Action, governments have agreed to incorporate climate change adaptation into the risk reduction process. This paper explores the nature of climate change risk assessment in the context of human assets and the built environment. More specifically, the paper's focus is on the role of spatial data which is fundamental to the analysis. The fundamental link in all of these examples is the National Exposure Information System (NEXIS) which has been developed as a national database of Australia's built infrastructure and associated demographic information. The first illustrations of the use of NEXIS are through post-disaster impact assessments of a recent flood and bushfire. While these specific events can not be said to be the result of climate change, flood and bushfire risks will certainly increase if rainfall or drought become more prevalent, as most climate change models indicate. The second example is from Australia's National Coastal Vulnerability Assessment which is addressing the impact of sea-level rise and increased storms on coastal communities on a national scale. This study required access to or the development of several other spatial databases covering coastal landforms, digital elevation models and tidal/storm surge. Together, these examples serve to illustrate the importance of spatial data to the assessment of climate change risk and, ultimately, to making informed, cost-effective decisions to adapt to climate change.

Disaster management is most effective when it is based on evidence. Evidence-based disaster management means that decision makers are better informed, and the decision making process delivers more rational, credible and objective disaster management outcomes. To achieve this, fundamental data needs to be translated into information and knowledge, before it can be put to use by the decision makers as policy, planning and implementation. Disaster can come in all forms: rapid and destructive like earthquakes and tsunamis, or gradual and destructive like drought and climate change. Tactical and strategic responses need to be based on the appropriate information to minimise impacts on the community and promote subsequent recovery. This implies a comprehensive supply of information, in order to establish the direct and indirect losses, and to establish short and long term social and economic resilience. The development of the National Exposure Information System (NEXIS) is a significant national project being undertaken by Geoscience Australia (GA). NEXIS collects, collates, manages and provides the information required to assess multi-hazard impacts. Exposure information may be defined as a suite of information relevant to all those involved in a natural disaster, including the victims, the emergency services, and the policy and planning instrumentalities.

This document describes opportunities for supporting the Philippines CSCAND agencies to enhance their capacity to assess the risk and impact from natural hazards based on an assessment of current gaps. The CSCAND agencies include the Mines & Geosciences Bureau, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology, Philippine Atmospheric, the Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration, the National Mapping and Resource Information Agency, and the Office of Civil Defence. It is important to note that efforts to assess natural hazard risk are only one mechanism by which the CSCAND agencies support the reduction of disaster risk in the Philippines and that this paper covers only a part of the disaster risk reduction activity spectrum.

Imagine you are an incident controller sitting in front of a computer screen that is showing you where a fire that's just started is likely to head. Not just that, but also what houses and other structures in the fire's path are likely to burn, and even the number and type of people living in the area - children, adults, elderly. In addition imagine that you can quantify the uncertainty in both the fire weather and also the state of the vegetation so as to deliver a range of simulations relating to the expected firespread which allow the incident controller to address 'what if' scenarios. Think of the advantages of such a program in making speedy, accurate decisions about where best to send fire trucks and fire-suppression aircraft; in being able to issue timely, locality-specific warning messages; in judging whether this fire will become so bad that it might warrant recommending not only an early, orderly evacuation of communities in its way, but also identifying the least risky roads for people to get to safety. A computer program that will not only be able to help with all this and more in a fire, but will also be capable of use at any time in identifying what structures, streets and communities would be at risk should a fire occur, enabling those at risk to undertake remedial work around their properties in advance to make them better fire-ready. This will be achieved by building up a library of possible / credible fire impact scenarios based on the knowledge of observed (historical) severe fire weather conditions as well as vegetation information (fuel type/amount/moisture).

Note: A more recent version of this product is available. This point dataset contains the major power stations in Australia including all those that feed into the electricity transmission network.

Note: A more recent version of this product is available. This dataset contains the high voltage electricity transmission lines that make up the electricity transmission network in Australia. For government use only. Access through negotiation with Geoscience Australia

Wildfires are one of the major natural hazards facing the Australian continent. Chen (2004) rated wildfires as the third largest cause of building damage in Australia during the 20th Century. Most of this damage was due to a few extreme wildfire events. For a vast country like Australia with its sparse network of weather observation sites and short temporal length of records, it is important to employ a range of modelling techniques that involve both observed and modelled data in order to produce fire hazard and risk information/products with utility. This presentation details the use of statistical and deterministic modelling of both observations and synthetic climate model output (downscaled gridded reanalysis information) in the development of extreme fire weather potential maps. Fire danger indices such as the McArthur Fire Forest Danger Index (FFDI) are widely used by fire management agencies to assess fire weather conditions and issue public warnings. FFDI is regularly calculated at weather stations using measurements of weather variables and fuel information. As it has been shown that relatively few extreme events cause most of the impacts, the ability to derive the spatial distribution of the return period of extreme FFDI values contributes important information to the understanding of how potential risk is distributed across the continent. The long-term spatial tendency FFDI has been assessed by calculating the return period of its extreme values from point-based observational data. The frequency and intensity as well as the spatial distribution of FFDI extremes were obtained by applying an advanced spatial interpolation algorithm to the recording stations' measurements. As an illustration maps of 50 and 100-year return-period (RP) of FFDI under current climate conditions are presented (based on both observations and reanalysis climate model output). MODSIM 2013 Conference

Hydrometeorological events make up or contribute to a majority of disasters in Australia and around the world. Scientists expect climate change will accelerate the frequency and intensity of these events in the future. Information on the location and characteristics of the built and social environment combined with hazard modelling and spatial analysis can facilitate the identification of buildings, people and infrastructure exposed to a particular natural hazard event. This information informs evidence based decision making and future planning to aid in the preparedness, response and recovery to severe hazard events. In Australia, the National Exposure Information System (NEXIS) is a significant national project being undertaken by Geoscience Australia (GA). In 2006 GA embarked on the development of NEXIS in response to the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) reform commitment on Australian's ability to manage natural disasters and other emergencies. The COAG commitment called for the establishment of a 'nationally consistent system of data collection, research and analysis to ensure a sound knowledge base on natural disasters and disaster mitigation' (DOTARS 2002). NEXIS database contains information on buildings, people, businesses and infrastructure and is derived from publicly available demographic, structural, economic and statistical data. Exposure profiles contain information on: building type, size, construction materials, age, replacement costs and population demographics for all residential, commercial and industrial buildings in Australia. Aggregated exposure information underpins risk assessment, emergency management, climate change adaptation, urban planning, insurance industry and research to help assist evidence based decision making. NEXIS development and operationalisation is crucial to support the decision makers and underpins community safety, emergency management and disaster risk reduction initiatives Australia This paper will discuss the development of NEXIS and its application in several national projects with the Department of Climate Change Energy and Efficiency (DCCEE) in Australia and recent national disaster impacts assessments on: Queensland tropical cyclone Yasi, Victoria bushfires and the Queensland floods.