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Disaster recovery in Australia must plan for people who do not own an insured home, not just for rebuilding damaged houses. AHURI research shows how renters can be shut out of temporary housing and assistance, while temporary accommodation may be needed for months or years. Three connected priorities follow: plan for housing risk before disasters, provide suitable temporary and permanent homes, and coordinate recovery around local communities. These are an editorial synthesis, not AHURI’s official list: its 2025 report sets out five policy areas.
Why housing insecurity can become prolonged displacement
When a flood, bushfire or cyclone damages a home, the housing problem does not end when the immediate emergency passes. Households may need shelter while they arrange repairs, rebuilding and financing. Some require temporary accommodation for months or years. Its quality, location and cultural suitability affect whether people can maintain connections to work, services and community while they wait to return or find a lasting home.
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People who own an insured home are not the only households recovery planning needs to consider. Housing may be rented, community-provided, informal or temporary; an owner-centred response can overlook people who have no home to insure and little control over where they live. AHURI’s Final Report 435 identifies private renters as particularly exposed: they often have less secure or lower-quality housing, lower incomes and less insurance cover. It also finds that many support programs may exclude renters from temporary accommodation, even when their homes are damaged. That does not mean every renter has the same circumstances, but it does make eligibility a critical part of recovery planning.
Final Report 435, published 19 February 2025, recommends improving renters’ access to temporary housing and assistance. It also calls for closer integration of housing policy, planning and disaster management, greater risk awareness in housing and planning agencies, limits on development in risky areas, and incentives for safer rebuilding.
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Priority 1: Plan for housing risk before disaster strikes
Recovery begins before a disaster: land-use planning, building decisions and housing policy shape who is exposed and what options remain afterward. AHURI Final Report 439 draws on seven Australian recovery case studies involving bushfires, floods and cyclones in Western Australia, New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland. Published 3 April 2025, it sets out five policy-development areas: proactive housing-crisis management and prevention; post-disaster housing solutions and recovery; local empowerment and community-led recovery; insurance reform and financial support; and government coordination and long-term resilience.
These official areas are broader than a single construction or insurance fix. They connect land-use planning and building design with community inclusion, collaboration, finance and political support. AHURI’s Final Report 444, published 29 July 2025, also identifies less-developed risk regulation for floods and cyclones compared with bushfires. Its recommendations include risk-aware housing strategies, safer rebuilding and transparent policies for managed retreat and buybacks.
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For construction and planning, the practical question is not simply whether a damaged house can be rebuilt, but whether rebuilding in the same place will leave residents exposed to future hazards. Retreat and buybacks can affect community ties and livelihoods as well as physical safety. AHURI calls for these policies to be transparent, fair and effective; decisions need to account for household choice and the consequences for people who may not be able to afford an alternative home.
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Temporary accommodation is not one standard product. AHURI Final Report 439 describes village-style blocks, modified short-stay facilities, commercial accommodation such as hotels, motels, short-term lets and hostels, and modular units including huts, pods and caravans. What can be provided quickly depends on local accommodation stock and community needs. The report found that residents in the flood-affected cases it examined experienced more difficulty with temporary and permanent housing assistance than residents in the bushfire-affected cases; this finding should not be read as a universal ranking of every flood and bushfire response.
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Choosing among accommodation types means weighing more than speed. A solution that is available immediately may be unsuitable for a larger household, inaccessible to a person with mobility needs, far from work and services, or culturally inappropriate. The likely duration matters too: a short stay can become a long wait for permanent housing. AHURI warns that temporary villages can be costly and problematic; when they are used, they should preserve community spirit and connections. Existing infrastructure such as holiday parks, motels and hotels can offer immediate relief while also supporting local economies.
- Village-style blocks: Can keep residents near one another, but require attention to cost, infrastructure, community ties and what happens to the site later.
- Modified short-stay facilities and commercial accommodation: Hotels, motels, short-term lets and hostels can make use of existing local capacity, but availability and suitability depend on the local mix of accommodation.
- Modular units: Huts, pods and caravans provide another form of temporary shelter; their usefulness depends on household needs, location and the length of stay.
These options are not interchangeable, and the AHURI reports do not establish that one model is best in every location. Planning should identify a range of workable options and account for household size, accessibility, cultural suitability, connection to community and services, duration, costs and local economic effects.
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Priority 3: Coordinate recovery around local communities
Recovery involves emergency management, reconstruction, housing, planning and local government, but AHURI Final Report 444 identifies weak links between emergency and reconstruction agencies and housing and planning agencies. It also points to fragmented data standards and quality, and to local governments whose recovery role can be constrained by limited resources, investment and political authority.
Those gaps can make it harder to identify housing needs, assign responsibility and arrange temporary accommodation or rebuilding. AHURI recommends better information sharing, simpler post-disaster planning for temporary housing and rebuilding, evaluation of recovery programs, clearer government responsibilities and broader housing options. It also calls for careful planning for temporary villages’ future reuse and investigation of insurance alternatives in high-risk areas. The report cautions against relying on insurance alone: additional costs for safer rebuilding may not be covered by policies, and market-based mechanisms by themselves are unlikely to produce sustainable solutions.
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Australia’s National Principles for Disaster Recovery, updated in 2026 according to the Australian Institute for Disaster Resilience (AIDR), describe recovery as complex, long-term, non-linear and dynamic. They call for understanding local context, recognizing complexity, community-centred approaches, coordination, effective communication and building capacity. The guidance highlights accessibility and inclusion, culturally safe and trauma-informed practice, support for people disproportionately affected, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander self-determination and Indigenous governance, transparent decision-making, and monitoring and learning. AIDR states: “Community-centred recovery is essential.”
That means local participation is not an optional extra to a housing plan. Residents need meaningful ways to shape decisions that affect where they live, the support they can access and whether rebuilding, relocation or another option is viable. Local capacity and clear coordination help turn broad recovery principles into choices that fit the people and places affected.
What the three priorities mean in practice
- Before disaster: Connect housing and land-use decisions to hazard risk, and plan for safer rebuilding and long-term resilience.
- During displacement: Offer more than one temporary housing pathway, with eligibility and suitability considered for renters as well as homeowners.
- Across recovery: Make responsibilities clear, improve information sharing and involve local communities in decisions about temporary housing, rebuilding and relocation.
Together, these priorities address a central housing gap: recovery can leave people displaced not only because homes are damaged, but because assistance, accommodation and decisions do not fit their circumstances. Planning for renters, suitable housing and locally grounded coordination makes recovery more responsive without assuming a single model will work everywhere.
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