NRMA Insurance will provide $800,000 over two years to a new community-led resilience program in the Northern Rivers, as insurers report rising losses from extreme weather across Australia. The funding, announced on Jan. 28, will be delivered through NRMA Insurance’s Help Fund and set up as a participatory grants program for local projects related to disaster readiness and recovery in the region.
The initiative is being established with the Northern Rivers Community Foundation (NRCF), which will administer the funds and run a process in which local stakeholders are involved in deciding how grants are distributed. The first grant recipients are expected to be named by mid‑2026. NRMA Insurance CEO Julie Batch said the initiative responds to the pattern of severe events affecting the area. “Northern Rivers communities have endured repeated floods, fires, and storms in recent years. This partnership invests in community-led solutions to help the region prepare and thrive,” Batch said.
Under the program design, NRCF will work with the Northern Rivers Community Resilience Alliance (The Resilience Alliance) to co-develop the grants framework and facilitate community participation in funding decisions. The program is structured to reflect local disaster experience and stated priorities across Northern Rivers communities. NRCF CEO Sam Henderson said the ability to retain and distribute funds within the region through an agreed local process is a key feature. “For too long, our region has carried the burden of repeated disasters. With NRMA Insurance’s Help Fund enabling us to hold funds locally and distribute them through a community-led process, this is a game changer. Locals will decide the process and the best allocation of grants for optimal impact. It builds connections between individuals and local organisations, strengthening the foundation of long-term resilience,” Henderson said.
The Resilience Alliance is a network of more than 60 community groups from Grafton to Tweed and west to Tenterfield. Since early 2024, it has convened regular meetings, shared information among members, and coordinated aspects of community responses to floods, storms, and other events. Alliance coordinator Kathie Heyman said the new funding is directed at groups already active in preparedness and recovery work. “This funding supports the local groups already doing work in their communities. Across the Northern Rivers, grassroots networks step up before and long after disasters, often with limited resources. The NRMA Insurance Help Fund will strengthen coordination and provide practical support so these groups can keep showing up for their communities when it matters most,” Heyman said. The program draws on Monash University’s Fire to Flourish model, piloted from 2021 to 2025 across four local government areas in New South Wales and Victoria. That model used community-led governance and locally designed measures following major disasters, with a focus on long-term engagement rather than short-term recovery alone.
The Northern Rivers initiative comes as Australian general insurers continue to record increased catastrophe-related costs and call for more systematic risk reduction measures. According to the Insurance Council of Australia (ICA), natural disasters have generated more than $34 billion in insured losses since 2010. Of that total, $22.5 billion was incurred in the past five years, a 67% increase on the previous five-year period. Research by the McKell Institute for the ICA estimates that disaster-related costs will increase by about 5% annually, potentially reaching at least $35 billion a year by 2050. Insurers have argued for greater investment in mitigation, stronger building and planning standards, and broader risk management reforms to limit future losses and pressures on affordability for households, businesses, and governments.
New ICA data show that extreme weather events in 2025 resulted in almost $3.5 billion in insured losses across 264,000 claims. Five events were declared significant or catastrophic during the year. The largest single event was Ex‑Tropical Cyclone Alfred, which affected Queensland and northern New South Wales between Feb. 28 and March 11, 2025. It generated about 132,000 claims and more than $1.5 billion in insured losses. Two major storm and hail systems in October and November also produced high loss totals. Severe spring storms affecting South-East Queensland and northern NSW from Oct. 26 to Nov. 2 led to 35,500 claims and $601 million in insured losses. A subsequent system across Queensland and NSW from Nov. 20 to 27 resulted in 70,200 claims and $814 million in insured losses. Combined, those events accounted for about $1.4 billion.
Other, more localised events – including flooding in Western Queensland, storms in Casterton and Harden, and bushfires in Halls Gap – added to claims but are not included in the ICA’s main catastrophe series. By comparison, insured losses from extreme weather in 2024 totalled $581 million, while 2023 recorded $2.35 billion. The figures underline year‑to‑year variability against a broader upward trend in natural peril costs. Throughout 2025, the ICA operated three Insurance Hubs and held 13 community consultation sessions in affected regions to assist policyholders and manage claims. Early 2026 has already brought further activity, including bushfires in Victoria and monsoonal conditions in North Queensland, with insurers processing claims from these events and maintaining staff presence in impacted areas.
