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The National Flood Risk Advisory Group (NFRAG) is involved in the development, publication and promotion of manuals of floodplain best practice and advocates for improved flood risk management with agencies and industry. NFRAG arranges forums where flood risk management practice can be discussed, issues can be workshopped, and new developments promoted. NFRAG has been effective in advancing flood management since its inception in late 2005. NFRAG’s major achievements include:

1. The development of a national vision and objectives of flood risk management including guidance on the responsibility of government and the community in the effective management of flood risk for local communities (2007-08). This was the basis of a paper published in the November 2008 edition [PDF 2.25MB] of the Australian Journal of Emergency Management.
2. Guiding the revision and rewrite of a set of national best practice manuals covering Flood Preparedness [PDF 839.9KB], Flood Warning [PDF 2.3MB], Flood Response [PDF 2.25MB] and Emergency Management Planning for Floods Affected by Dams [PDF 550.8KB]. These have been published as part of the Australian Emergency Management series and were launched by the Attorney General in Lismore, New South Wales in October 2009.
3. Preparation of a paper for the (then) Australian Emergency Management Committee (AEMC) setting out the current responsibilities in each jurisdiction for advising property holders of their flood risk and for public education about flood risks and flood warning. The paper was designed to encourage jurisdictions to take simple action to improve their systems (2007-08).
4. Contributed to a review of the National Emergency Risk Assessment Guidelines; specifically from a flood risk perspective (2008-09).
5. Conducted a well-attended workshop on floodplain management in Australia as part of the joint NSW-Victoria Floodplain Management Conference in February 2009.
6. Reviewed the flood chapter of Natural Hazards in Australia: Identifying Risk Analysis Requirements.
7. Provided effective advocacy for the revision of Australian Rainfall and Runoff, which is the key technical document providing national guidance to engineers, hydrologists, floodplain managers, etc on flood design practice. This advocacy role led to the provision of several million dollars of funding from the Commonwealth Department of Climate Change to Engineers Australia (2008-09).
8. Provided a pool of expertise and guidance to the Insurance Council of Australia (ICA) in support of the development of national residential insurance and the National Flood Insurance Database (NFID).
9. Provided input into the review of the Australian Flood Studies Database led by Geoscience Australia (2009).
10. Assisted with the organisation and management of a national flood risk management workshop at the Australian Emergency Management Training Institute at Mt Macedon in April 2010. The primary purpose of this workshop was to introduce the revised manuals from Item 2 (above).
11. Reviewed draft guidelines for flash flood warning response developed jointly by the NSW and Victorian state emergency services (2010).
12. Contributed to the Australian Building Codes Board’s efforts in the development of a standard and guideline for the construction of buildings in flood prone areas (2011).
13. Worked with the Risk Assessment Mitigation and Measurement Subcommittee of the Australian-New Zealand Emergency Management Committee (ANZEMC) to develop a long and short term programme for flood modelling and mapping (2011).
14. Developed a consultation draft on national best practice in floodplain risk management to update and replace the earlier Emergency Management Australia (EMA)¹ and Standing Committee on Agriculture and Resource Management (SCARM)² manuals. The manual is designed to provide an understanding of the flood risk management process in Australia and will complement the revision of Australian Rainfall and Runoff and state-based floodplain management manuals. The draft was circulated to key stakeholders for comment in August with a national flood workshop held in October 2012 to workshop the updated guide and to scope out supporting technical guidelines.

References:

1. EMA (1999) Managing the Floodplain, Australian Emergency Management Series, Part III, Emergency Management Practice, Volume 3 – Guidelines, Emergency Management Australia.

2. SCARM (2000) Floodplain Management in Australia. Best Practice Principles and Guidelines (2000) Agriculture and Resource Management Council of Australia and New Zealand, Standing Committee on Agriculture and Resource Management, Report No 73, CSIRO Publishing, Collingwood, Victoria.