A conference paper describing GIS tools developed in support of the blast loss estimation capability for the Australian Reinsurance Pool Corporation. The paper focus is on GIS tools developed for: exposure database construction and integration of a number of datasets including 3D building geometry

The National Consulates dataset presents the spatial locations; in point format, of all known consulate facilities within Australia.

In order for the Global Earthquake Model (GEM) to be able to calculate the impact of earthquakes it is necessary for it to be able to assess the building replacement cost at the level of individual buildings. This document outlines the methodology proposed by Geoscience Australia to determine the replacement cost for buildings. The methodology proposes a method for determining the rate (measured in currency per unit floor area) to reconstruct a building with given characteristics. The reconstruction cost is determined by multiplying the rate by the floor area. The methodology discusses the various factors that affect the rate and suggests sources where data on rates may be found.

This paper reports efforts to improve the knowledge of the vulnerability to riverine inundation of domestic housing types found in the Brisbane Ipswich area of Queensland. Riverine inundation is inundation by slowing rising river water where the water velocity is sufficiently low as not to cause velocity-related damage. Generic housing types are derived from surveyed exposure and analytical vulnerability relationships are developed from assessments of repair works at different inundation depths and compared to the results of a postal survey of dwellings affected by flooding in January, 2011.

This report presents the initial building vulnerability schema proposed for the Bushfire and Natural Hazards Collaborative Research Centre (BNHCRC) project entitled 'Improving the Resilience of Existing Housing to Severe Wind Events'. The project is a collaboration between the Cyclone Testing Station of James Cook University and Geoscience Australia. The report discusses the utility of a building schema and identifies which building attributes are the most important for distinguishing between housing classes of different vulnerabilities in the Australian building stock.

SIFRA is the acronym for 'System for Infrastructure Facility Resilience Analysis'. The system provides an analytical approach for modelling the vulnerability of high-value infrastructure facilities by taking into consideration the fragilities and configurations of its constituent components. In doing this it uses a network theory based approach for modelling the facility and its operations. This method makes it possible to consider the discrete component-level vulnerabilities within a facility and, significantly, their system-level operational implications to the composite facility fragility. SIFRA also includes tools for modelling system restoration times under varied levels of resource allocation scenarios, and for identifying component criticality.

This document reports on a workshop held at Geoscience Australia during November, 2013 to develop vulnerability functions for buildings in the SE Asian region as input to the UNISDR's Global Assessment of Risk programme.

The National Foreign Embassies dataset presents the spatial locations; in point format, of all known foreign embassies and high commissions within Australia.

Refined wind vulnerability curves for residential houses in Western Australia. The dataset contains heuristic vulnerability curves for individual communities in WA, initially provided by Geoff Boughton (JCU), and modified by Martin Wehner (GA), in line with commentary from Geoff that the curves are representative of individual houses. The vulnerability would increase in a community situation due to debris generation from upwind houses. An additional curve for the reinforced masonry/concrete roof houses observed in Exmouth is also included.

An understanding of the vulnerability of the built environment to ground shaking is vital to the impact and risk assessment process. The vulnerability of Unreinforced Masonry (URM) buildings to earthquake hazard as been repeatedly demonstrated around the world. A portion of Australia's building stock is made up of legacy URM buildings dating from before the First World War. These buildings are typical of inner-city suburbs and the centres of country towns. The Kalgoorlie Earthquake of 20 April, 2010 offered the best opportunity to study the vulnerability of Australian URM buildings to ground shaking since the Newcastle Earthquake in 1989. The Kalgoorlie earthquake caused shaking of MMI intensity VI in Boulder and intensity V in Kalgoorlie. Damage was principally confined to turn-of-the-century URM buildings with only slight damage observed in more modern cavity masonry domestic residential buildings. Geoscience Australia led a post-event field survey to record damage to buildings in Boulder - Kalgoorlie. The survey recorded street-view imagery of the entire urban area and subsequently a detailed survey template was complete during a door-to-door foot survey. The foot survey targeted the entire population of turn-of-the-century buildings in Boulder-Kalgoorlie together with a sample of modern cavity masonry domestic residential buildings. The aim of the foot survey was to capture sufficient information to enable the calculation of a damage index (or loss ratio) for each surveyed building. The survey and subsequent analysis revealed an average damage index for turn-of-the-century URM buildings of 0.062 in Boulder (MMI VI) and 0.019 in Kalgoorlie (MMI V). These values are slightly higher than those reported post-Newcastle for ? . Difficulties encountered with computing damage indices for individual buildings are enumerated and recommendations are presented to improve future post-earthquake population surveys.