Distributing Natural Disaster Costs in Australia - Policy and Effects

This paper presents an outline of government policy on natural disaster relief in Australia. Two effects of that policy on the distribution of the costs of a particular natural disaster (the 1974 Queensland floods) are then quantified. First, the relative shares of public sector relief borne by the three levels of government in Australia following that disaster are determined. Second, the distribution of the costs of that disaster between various groups (insurance, government, private philanthropy and the disaster victims themselves) is estimated. The success of the government's policy in achieving its objectives is then evaluated