Australia: Extreme weather means extreme planning

"The Australian government's role in crisis coordination and disaster response, undertaken by Emergency Management Australia, is largely limited to responding to requests for assistance. But we're going to need the Australian government to be more engaged before extreme weather events hit. A "call us if you need us" role won't cut it in the future," writes Anthony Bergin, deputy director of Australian Strategic Policy Institutein his opinion piece in The Age.

Mr Bergin calls on the emergency services to work with those responsible for building codes to ensure that the infrastructure is resilient  to cope with the increasingly extreme weather. And as extreme weather events become more frequent, Australia's emergency services will need to work harder to try to make them less disruptive. Mr Bergin believes that they need to work with communities, so more people are better able to withstand, and bounce back, when hit by extreme weather.

He warns: "Climate change is making mother nature more dangerous, resulting in weather events that are more frequent and extreme. Our emergency workers, cops and fighting forces will need to adjust to that world."