Disastrous Disaster Threshold

13 July 2026

A Federal proposal to massively increase the trigger for the declaration of a natural disaster that unlocks federal and state funding would be a financial disaster for local councils, according to the Member for Barwon, Roy Butler.
The Federal proposal is part of a package of reforms intended to streamline disaster management that was developed in response to the Independent Review of Commonwealth Disaster Funding.
Mr Butler says councils can currently access natural disaster funding when the damage passes over a threshold of $240,000, but the new federal proposal seeks to increase the trigger to $2.7 million.
The General Manager of Walgett Shire, Andrew Brown, says ferocious storms hit Rowena and Carinda several days apart in 2024 and the two incidents had to be combined to reach the $240k natural disaster declaration threshold.
“Natural disaster funding allowed us to repair infrastructure and rebuild the communities of Rowena and Carinda,” said Mr Brown. “We wouldn’t have been able to do it otherwise, as Council is stretched thin and doesn’t have any reserves that allow for disaster response.
“If the natural disaster trigger is raised to $2.7 million, we could lose the entire infrastructure of many of our communities like Burren Junction and still not qualify for support,” said Mr Brown. “In that case, we’d be left with a damaged town that’s unable to function.
“A $2.7 million trigger is too high for us to even repair flooded roads so we could travel between our communities,” said Mr Brown.
Mr Butler says he expects both the NSW and Federal Ministers will see the problem and reject this aspect of the Disaster Funding report.
“The higher trigger may work for an urban council with a budget of hundreds of millions of dollars, but the proposal is an insult to smaller communities,” said Mr Butler.