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Shared risks, stronger collaboration: Designing Australia's flood-intelligence capability for the next decade
Australia’s flood risk landscape is changing rapidly. Intensifying rainfall, more frequent flash flooding and the compounding effects of climate change are placing increasing pressure on flood intelligence, forecasting and warning systems. Leaders are required to make high-consequence decisions in fast-moving, uncertain environments, often using arrangements not designed for the scale and complexity of contemporary flood events.
This presentation outlines the development of a National Flood Intelligence Capability Roadmap – a multi-jurisdictional, practitioner-led effort to strengthen Australia’s collective ability to minimise the impacts of flooding. With an initial focus on flash and riverine flooding, the roadmap has been co-designed by state and territory emergency service agencies, floodplain managers, technical specialists and forecasters. This Roadmap reflects a shared commitment to leading together and strengthening trust, transparency and accountability in decision-making.
From a leadership and capability perspective, the roadmap provides a practical example of values-based collaboration in action. It identifies nationally consistent priorities across six interdependent capability domains: People, Governance, Systems, Processes, Resources and Partnerships. Together, these domains underpin the end-to-end flood intelligence chain – from observations and modelling to impact translation, warnings and local action – shaping the quality and integrity of decisions before and during disasters.
Insights from workshops, user-needs analysis and jurisdictional reviews highlight common challenges, including fragmented data systems, inconsistent impact-based intelligence and growing analyst workload, alongside significant strengths such as deep operational expertise and trusted professional networks.
The presentation will share priority opportunities, including ‘quick wins’ and longer-term initiatives requiring sustained public sector and industry coordination. By sharing the roadmap’s nationally agreed priorities, this presentation invites discussion on a collaborative commitment to building a more integrated, consistent and climate-ready flood intelligence capability, strengthening community safety, workforce sustainability and confidence in accountable operational decision-making.
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