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Geoscience Australia is developing draft technical guidelines for cataloging and uploading data into the Australian Flood Studies Database; these will be available shortly. These will be updated as the data accessible through the portal is expanded. The guidelines will include any future agreed national standards for flood information that will be published through the portal.

The technical guidelines form Part 2 of the National Guidelines for the National Flood Risk Information Program. Part 1 of the guidelines are broader than the National Flood Risk Information Project (NFRIP) and set out the framework and principles under which Australian jurisdictions will work together to improve flood risk information. Part 1 of the national guidelines makes reference to activities which are complementary, but distinct to NFRIP, and are being led through the jurisdictions under the Council of Australian Governments (COAG).

Australian Rainfall and Runoff

Geoscience Australia has funded Engineers Australia to finalise the revision of Australian Rainfall and Runoff (ARR). This work will improve the flood estimates that underpin flood risk management in Australia.

The ARR guidelines and accompanying datasets are a significant source of technical information used to determine the degree to which a particular area is flood-prone. It allows engineers and planners to make more informed decisions about the location and design of infrastructure and buildings.

The guide was last updated in 1987 and was available only in paper form. Since it was released, new approaches to catchment and flood modelling have been developed, a significant volume of new data about rainfall and runoff patterns has been collected, and considerable advances have been made in computing technology. The revision will be made available digitally, providing increased efficiencies for the consultants and others who develop flood studies. It will also enable the individual components of ARR to be more easily updated in the future.

Since 2008, the Australian Government, through the Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency, has provided $4 million in funding, and the Bureau of Meteorology has made a significant in-kind contribution, to enable Engineers Australia to progress the ARR revision. In September 2012 the Minister for Resources and Energy, the Hon Martin Ferguson, AM MP, announced a further investment of $5 million as part of the National Flood Risk Information Project (NFRIP). This funding will enable Engineers Australia to complete the work, with finalisation anticipated by late 2015. A technical committee and a steering committee are overseeing the revision, with Geoscience Australia participating in both groups.