Deflated renter says cost of rent for tiny studio apartment 'is insane'
Your web browser is no longer supported. To improve your experience update it here Bartender and student William Connell lives in university student accommodation in Newtown, in Sydney's inner west. Rent for his 13 square metre studio apartment sets him back $1267 a fortnight. Rent for his 13 square metre studio apartment sets him back $1267 a fortnight. (Campus Living Villages) He says rent is so expensive he's been left with no other option - his parents, who currently live and work in Singapore, have had to help supplement his rent. "I could not afford this place, I'd have to live with my grandparents in Cronulla if my parents didn't [help me] pay," he said. "It's just insane, I would never be able to afford it with my part-time job... I probably get paid $600 a week, which doesn't make my rent." Connell was born in Sydney, but his family moved to Singapore and Hong Kong when he was a child. He moved back to Sydney alone last February to attend university. Connell studies computer science. It is likely he will be well paid when he moves into his career but he still fears he won't be able to live independently for a number of years. Bartender and student William Connell lives in university student accommodation in Newtown, in Sydney's inner west. (Supplied) "All my mates who also live in student accommodation say they are going to move back to their parents after graduation, but I don't really get much of a choice," he said. "I just don't know when I'll be independent. I always thought I'll go to uni and be independent but, I'm still on my dad's dime...I don't know when that will end." He says when he does graduate from university and starts working, the majority of his income will "immediately go straight to rent". "I can move in with my grandparents but that's not really the best option as a young adult," he said. Connell acknowledged that he is lucky to have the support of his parents to make rent, telling 9News.com.au that many of his friends have no idea when they'd be able to move out of home. The issue isn't anything new. Connell's rent for his studio student accomodation is so expensive, his parents have to help him pay it. (Campus Living Villages) Homelessness Australia revealed in 2023 that Youth Allowance payments weren't enough for a young person to afford both rent and basic necessities. Advocates say little has changed since then. "What we know most definitely is that young people are disproportionately affected by the housing crisis and by the cost of living crisis,' CEO of NSW's peak body for youth homelessness, YFoundations, John Macmillan said. "The broader national statistics are clear that housing increasingly takes up a larger and larger proportion of people's available incomes." While Connell tries to avoid moving in with his grandparents, Macmillan says some young people have no other choice. "Particularly a form of homelessness called couch surfing... is the most predominant form of homelessness for young people," Macmillan said. "That is a more significant form of homelessness for young people than for adults...you don't actually have a place to live, so you're staying with friends, family, and whoever else you can." national
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4 days ago
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Large pet store chain introduces new ban at stores Australia-wide
Your web browser is no longer supported. To improve your experience update it here A major pet retailer has banned the sale of live animals at all of its stores across Australia. PetO, the third largest pet retailer in the country, has rolled out the change to its 58 stores across NSW, the ACT, Victoria, Western Australia, Queensland and Tasmania. A spokesperson told the process started in May and the sales have since been phased out at every store. PetO co-founders Nick Greenhalgh and David Rowe. (Supplied/PetO) The business hopes the move will encourage Australian pet stores to follow its lead and set a new ethical standard. "The transport, storage and sale of live animals in pet shops is ethically problematic and can lend itself to issues relating to animal welfare as well as irresponsible ownership of pets," the spokesperson said. "The decision to stop the sale of live animals will impact PetO in the short term but have long term commercial benefits that will help the business reach its goal of a projected $250 million in annual revenue by 2028." national Australia Consumer Shopping Shoppers Pets CONTACT US
The Advertiser
31-05-2025
- The Advertiser
Flood victims wait in hope for future-proof solutions
From the door of Mel Connell's gift shop, in shin-deep water, the only things still recognisable were a few hanging festoon and fairy lights. After 14 years as a small retailer, she had to refashion her premises after floods ripped through the northern NSW town of Lismore in February 2022. By September, Ms Connell had reopened with $50 in her pocket and an unfinished building. She was thousands more short in products and equipment. Three years later, she still feels the impact. "It's been an extremely hard slog, I'm never doing that again," Ms Connell tells AAP. "I've got a business, my partner also has a job here, we've got a home loan. We can't just pack up and leave." Every time it rains heavily, she "freaks out". "People died here and we had a billion-dollar emergency, so I just wish the government would actually have some kind of plan in place to help us in the future." Tensions are high across the state's mid north coast and Hunter regions with more than a thousand properties uninhabitable and dozens more beyond repair. Insurance premiums have skyrocketed, with residents launching GoFundMe efforts to help salvage inundated homes. The Fitzgerald family in Taree had to set one up after insurers declined to cover them after they were flooded for a first time. "When the second flood struck, they were left with absolutely nothing," says campaign organiser Sharon Revell. "To make matters even more heartbreaking, the boys recently lost their beloved mum to terminal cancer. "Her passing has left three sons, one of whom lives with a disability, without their home, their stability and their mother." Elsewhere, GoFundMe organisers say insurance premiums for another second-time victim jumped four times their original cost following NSW floods in March 2021. About 1.36 million properties are at any time at risk of flooding across the state and in Victoria and Queensland, according to the Insurance Council of Australia. In Lismore, Ms Connell wants to see infrastructure built to withstand future events after 2022 triggered an exodus of residents. "People would reinvest into the town and not just our town, everywhere," she says. "We've had eight years with floods, we're trying to get the town back on its feet and it would bring positivity back. "It would be life-changing for a lot of people and having some kind of ... solution so they don't leave the postcode and can still purchase a property out of the flood zone would contribute to the economy here." There may be light at the end of the tunnel for residents and business owners with the insurance council calling for government and the sector to establish a $30 billion dollar fund to protect flood-prone communities. In a report issued prior to the federal election, it urged the building more flood defence infrastructure, buying-back properties and strengthening others in harm's way. "There is a solution. It's going to be a public-private partnership between government and insurers," the council's executive director Andrew Hall told Sydney radio station 2GB this week. "There are 220,000 homes on the east coast of Australia that are sitting in a two or five per cent chance of flooding every year. "We've priced the de-risking of 24 catchments on the east coast over a period of 10 years." However in Taree, a community which has been decimated by the recent floods, Mayor Claire Pontin says council looked at constructing higher levees but the cost outweighed the benefit. "Had we built those levees back then, this flood would have gone over the top of them anyway," she says. "All those issues about flood mitigation works to try and make our assets, and the community's assets, more resilient to flooding is on the table." Inflated insurance premiums have become a recurring conversation with flood affected victims. Last year, residents told of being forced to endure unreasonable wait times and being overcharged by insurers to an inquiry into flood failures. One claimed to have been left in the lurch for 18 months. "I am emotionally exhausted, I lost all my belongings," they said in a submission. "I have tried to obtain online quotes from other insurers and they are either exorbitant or they refuse to insure in our area. "We applied for a buyback of the property through the resilient homes fund but have been rejected, despite having six properties surrounding us that have been bought back and in the process of being demolished." The NSW Department of Planning is in the throes of responding to inquiry recommendations following the 2022 floods. "The government is stopping inappropriate developments on dangerous floodplains," according to a spokesperson. "To proactively plan and mitigate against the impacts of floods in NSW, the Department is taking a risk-based approach to planning decisions on dangerous flood plains." Queensland's Department of Infrastructure says it has been liaising with other agencies on policy. "Key actions such as natural hazard mapping (has been) undertaken across the state and each local government area implements their own flood risk mapping tools for Queenslanders to utilise and check risk for personal safety and property," a spokesperson says. "The department continues to work closely with various other agencies and local councils responsible for navigating the state's preparedness for natural hazards, risk and resilience, particularly when it comes to land use." About 300,000 people lodged claims with insurance companies after the 2022 NSW floods, with the state and Commonwealth committing more than $3.5 billion for recovery. Assistant federal treasurer Daniel Mulino says some insurers have been too slow to clean up devastated communities. "(About) 90 to 95 per cent of claims are resolved within a year or so but that still leaves a very large number of claims hanging on," he this week told ABC Radio. "We've seen in a number of instances, hundreds and sometimes thousands of people with still unresolved claims a year or even two years after the disaster." Some 6000 people currently have claims lodged with the insurance council. Applications opened on Friday for commonwealth-state payments to help cover costs for items including food, clothing, medication and emergency accommodation. From the door of Mel Connell's gift shop, in shin-deep water, the only things still recognisable were a few hanging festoon and fairy lights. After 14 years as a small retailer, she had to refashion her premises after floods ripped through the northern NSW town of Lismore in February 2022. By September, Ms Connell had reopened with $50 in her pocket and an unfinished building. She was thousands more short in products and equipment. Three years later, she still feels the impact. "It's been an extremely hard slog, I'm never doing that again," Ms Connell tells AAP. "I've got a business, my partner also has a job here, we've got a home loan. We can't just pack up and leave." Every time it rains heavily, she "freaks out". "People died here and we had a billion-dollar emergency, so I just wish the government would actually have some kind of plan in place to help us in the future." Tensions are high across the state's mid north coast and Hunter regions with more than a thousand properties uninhabitable and dozens more beyond repair. Insurance premiums have skyrocketed, with residents launching GoFundMe efforts to help salvage inundated homes. The Fitzgerald family in Taree had to set one up after insurers declined to cover them after they were flooded for a first time. "When the second flood struck, they were left with absolutely nothing," says campaign organiser Sharon Revell. "To make matters even more heartbreaking, the boys recently lost their beloved mum to terminal cancer. "Her passing has left three sons, one of whom lives with a disability, without their home, their stability and their mother." Elsewhere, GoFundMe organisers say insurance premiums for another second-time victim jumped four times their original cost following NSW floods in March 2021. About 1.36 million properties are at any time at risk of flooding across the state and in Victoria and Queensland, according to the Insurance Council of Australia. In Lismore, Ms Connell wants to see infrastructure built to withstand future events after 2022 triggered an exodus of residents. "People would reinvest into the town and not just our town, everywhere," she says. "We've had eight years with floods, we're trying to get the town back on its feet and it would bring positivity back. "It would be life-changing for a lot of people and having some kind of ... solution so they don't leave the postcode and can still purchase a property out of the flood zone would contribute to the economy here." There may be light at the end of the tunnel for residents and business owners with the insurance council calling for government and the sector to establish a $30 billion dollar fund to protect flood-prone communities. In a report issued prior to the federal election, it urged the building more flood defence infrastructure, buying-back properties and strengthening others in harm's way. "There is a solution. It's going to be a public-private partnership between government and insurers," the council's executive director Andrew Hall told Sydney radio station 2GB this week. "There are 220,000 homes on the east coast of Australia that are sitting in a two or five per cent chance of flooding every year. "We've priced the de-risking of 24 catchments on the east coast over a period of 10 years." However in Taree, a community which has been decimated by the recent floods, Mayor Claire Pontin says council looked at constructing higher levees but the cost outweighed the benefit. "Had we built those levees back then, this flood would have gone over the top of them anyway," she says. "All those issues about flood mitigation works to try and make our assets, and the community's assets, more resilient to flooding is on the table." Inflated insurance premiums have become a recurring conversation with flood affected victims. Last year, residents told of being forced to endure unreasonable wait times and being overcharged by insurers to an inquiry into flood failures. One claimed to have been left in the lurch for 18 months. "I am emotionally exhausted, I lost all my belongings," they said in a submission. "I have tried to obtain online quotes from other insurers and they are either exorbitant or they refuse to insure in our area. "We applied for a buyback of the property through the resilient homes fund but have been rejected, despite having six properties surrounding us that have been bought back and in the process of being demolished." The NSW Department of Planning is in the throes of responding to inquiry recommendations following the 2022 floods. "The government is stopping inappropriate developments on dangerous floodplains," according to a spokesperson. "To proactively plan and mitigate against the impacts of floods in NSW, the Department is taking a risk-based approach to planning decisions on dangerous flood plains." Queensland's Department of Infrastructure says it has been liaising with other agencies on policy. "Key actions such as natural hazard mapping (has been) undertaken across the state and each local government area implements their own flood risk mapping tools for Queenslanders to utilise and check risk for personal safety and property," a spokesperson says. "The department continues to work closely with various other agencies and local councils responsible for navigating the state's preparedness for natural hazards, risk and resilience, particularly when it comes to land use." About 300,000 people lodged claims with insurance companies after the 2022 NSW floods, with the state and Commonwealth committing more than $3.5 billion for recovery. Assistant federal treasurer Daniel Mulino says some insurers have been too slow to clean up devastated communities. "(About) 90 to 95 per cent of claims are resolved within a year or so but that still leaves a very large number of claims hanging on," he this week told ABC Radio. "We've seen in a number of instances, hundreds and sometimes thousands of people with still unresolved claims a year or even two years after the disaster." Some 6000 people currently have claims lodged with the insurance council. Applications opened on Friday for commonwealth-state payments to help cover costs for items including food, clothing, medication and emergency accommodation. From the door of Mel Connell's gift shop, in shin-deep water, the only things still recognisable were a few hanging festoon and fairy lights. After 14 years as a small retailer, she had to refashion her premises after floods ripped through the northern NSW town of Lismore in February 2022. By September, Ms Connell had reopened with $50 in her pocket and an unfinished building. She was thousands more short in products and equipment. Three years later, she still feels the impact. "It's been an extremely hard slog, I'm never doing that again," Ms Connell tells AAP. "I've got a business, my partner also has a job here, we've got a home loan. We can't just pack up and leave." Every time it rains heavily, she "freaks out". "People died here and we had a billion-dollar emergency, so I just wish the government would actually have some kind of plan in place to help us in the future." Tensions are high across the state's mid north coast and Hunter regions with more than a thousand properties uninhabitable and dozens more beyond repair. Insurance premiums have skyrocketed, with residents launching GoFundMe efforts to help salvage inundated homes. The Fitzgerald family in Taree had to set one up after insurers declined to cover them after they were flooded for a first time. "When the second flood struck, they were left with absolutely nothing," says campaign organiser Sharon Revell. "To make matters even more heartbreaking, the boys recently lost their beloved mum to terminal cancer. "Her passing has left three sons, one of whom lives with a disability, without their home, their stability and their mother." Elsewhere, GoFundMe organisers say insurance premiums for another second-time victim jumped four times their original cost following NSW floods in March 2021. About 1.36 million properties are at any time at risk of flooding across the state and in Victoria and Queensland, according to the Insurance Council of Australia. In Lismore, Ms Connell wants to see infrastructure built to withstand future events after 2022 triggered an exodus of residents. "People would reinvest into the town and not just our town, everywhere," she says. "We've had eight years with floods, we're trying to get the town back on its feet and it would bring positivity back. "It would be life-changing for a lot of people and having some kind of ... solution so they don't leave the postcode and can still purchase a property out of the flood zone would contribute to the economy here." There may be light at the end of the tunnel for residents and business owners with the insurance council calling for government and the sector to establish a $30 billion dollar fund to protect flood-prone communities. In a report issued prior to the federal election, it urged the building more flood defence infrastructure, buying-back properties and strengthening others in harm's way. "There is a solution. It's going to be a public-private partnership between government and insurers," the council's executive director Andrew Hall told Sydney radio station 2GB this week. "There are 220,000 homes on the east coast of Australia that are sitting in a two or five per cent chance of flooding every year. "We've priced the de-risking of 24 catchments on the east coast over a period of 10 years." However in Taree, a community which has been decimated by the recent floods, Mayor Claire Pontin says council looked at constructing higher levees but the cost outweighed the benefit. "Had we built those levees back then, this flood would have gone over the top of them anyway," she says. "All those issues about flood mitigation works to try and make our assets, and the community's assets, more resilient to flooding is on the table." Inflated insurance premiums have become a recurring conversation with flood affected victims. Last year, residents told of being forced to endure unreasonable wait times and being overcharged by insurers to an inquiry into flood failures. One claimed to have been left in the lurch for 18 months. "I am emotionally exhausted, I lost all my belongings," they said in a submission. "I have tried to obtain online quotes from other insurers and they are either exorbitant or they refuse to insure in our area. "We applied for a buyback of the property through the resilient homes fund but have been rejected, despite having six properties surrounding us that have been bought back and in the process of being demolished." The NSW Department of Planning is in the throes of responding to inquiry recommendations following the 2022 floods. "The government is stopping inappropriate developments on dangerous floodplains," according to a spokesperson. "To proactively plan and mitigate against the impacts of floods in NSW, the Department is taking a risk-based approach to planning decisions on dangerous flood plains." Queensland's Department of Infrastructure says it has been liaising with other agencies on policy. "Key actions such as natural hazard mapping (has been) undertaken across the state and each local government area implements their own flood risk mapping tools for Queenslanders to utilise and check risk for personal safety and property," a spokesperson says. "The department continues to work closely with various other agencies and local councils responsible for navigating the state's preparedness for natural hazards, risk and resilience, particularly when it comes to land use." About 300,000 people lodged claims with insurance companies after the 2022 NSW floods, with the state and Commonwealth committing more than $3.5 billion for recovery. Assistant federal treasurer Daniel Mulino says some insurers have been too slow to clean up devastated communities. "(About) 90 to 95 per cent of claims are resolved within a year or so but that still leaves a very large number of claims hanging on," he this week told ABC Radio. "We've seen in a number of instances, hundreds and sometimes thousands of people with still unresolved claims a year or even two years after the disaster." Some 6000 people currently have claims lodged with the insurance council. Applications opened on Friday for commonwealth-state payments to help cover costs for items including food, clothing, medication and emergency accommodation. From the door of Mel Connell's gift shop, in shin-deep water, the only things still recognisable were a few hanging festoon and fairy lights. After 14 years as a small retailer, she had to refashion her premises after floods ripped through the northern NSW town of Lismore in February 2022. By September, Ms Connell had reopened with $50 in her pocket and an unfinished building. She was thousands more short in products and equipment. Three years later, she still feels the impact. "It's been an extremely hard slog, I'm never doing that again," Ms Connell tells AAP. "I've got a business, my partner also has a job here, we've got a home loan. We can't just pack up and leave." Every time it rains heavily, she "freaks out". "People died here and we had a billion-dollar emergency, so I just wish the government would actually have some kind of plan in place to help us in the future." Tensions are high across the state's mid north coast and Hunter regions with more than a thousand properties uninhabitable and dozens more beyond repair. Insurance premiums have skyrocketed, with residents launching GoFundMe efforts to help salvage inundated homes. The Fitzgerald family in Taree had to set one up after insurers declined to cover them after they were flooded for a first time. "When the second flood struck, they were left with absolutely nothing," says campaign organiser Sharon Revell. "To make matters even more heartbreaking, the boys recently lost their beloved mum to terminal cancer. "Her passing has left three sons, one of whom lives with a disability, without their home, their stability and their mother." Elsewhere, GoFundMe organisers say insurance premiums for another second-time victim jumped four times their original cost following NSW floods in March 2021. About 1.36 million properties are at any time at risk of flooding across the state and in Victoria and Queensland, according to the Insurance Council of Australia. In Lismore, Ms Connell wants to see infrastructure built to withstand future events after 2022 triggered an exodus of residents. "People would reinvest into the town and not just our town, everywhere," she says. "We've had eight years with floods, we're trying to get the town back on its feet and it would bring positivity back. "It would be life-changing for a lot of people and having some kind of ... solution so they don't leave the postcode and can still purchase a property out of the flood zone would contribute to the economy here." There may be light at the end of the tunnel for residents and business owners with the insurance council calling for government and the sector to establish a $30 billion dollar fund to protect flood-prone communities. In a report issued prior to the federal election, it urged the building more flood defence infrastructure, buying-back properties and strengthening others in harm's way. "There is a solution. It's going to be a public-private partnership between government and insurers," the council's executive director Andrew Hall told Sydney radio station 2GB this week. "There are 220,000 homes on the east coast of Australia that are sitting in a two or five per cent chance of flooding every year. "We've priced the de-risking of 24 catchments on the east coast over a period of 10 years." However in Taree, a community which has been decimated by the recent floods, Mayor Claire Pontin says council looked at constructing higher levees but the cost outweighed the benefit. "Had we built those levees back then, this flood would have gone over the top of them anyway," she says. "All those issues about flood mitigation works to try and make our assets, and the community's assets, more resilient to flooding is on the table." Inflated insurance premiums have become a recurring conversation with flood affected victims. Last year, residents told of being forced to endure unreasonable wait times and being overcharged by insurers to an inquiry into flood failures. One claimed to have been left in the lurch for 18 months. "I am emotionally exhausted, I lost all my belongings," they said in a submission. "I have tried to obtain online quotes from other insurers and they are either exorbitant or they refuse to insure in our area. "We applied for a buyback of the property through the resilient homes fund but have been rejected, despite having six properties surrounding us that have been bought back and in the process of being demolished." The NSW Department of Planning is in the throes of responding to inquiry recommendations following the 2022 floods. "The government is stopping inappropriate developments on dangerous floodplains," according to a spokesperson. "To proactively plan and mitigate against the impacts of floods in NSW, the Department is taking a risk-based approach to planning decisions on dangerous flood plains." Queensland's Department of Infrastructure says it has been liaising with other agencies on policy. "Key actions such as natural hazard mapping (has been) undertaken across the state and each local government area implements their own flood risk mapping tools for Queenslanders to utilise and check risk for personal safety and property," a spokesperson says. "The department continues to work closely with various other agencies and local councils responsible for navigating the state's preparedness for natural hazards, risk and resilience, particularly when it comes to land use." About 300,000 people lodged claims with insurance companies after the 2022 NSW floods, with the state and Commonwealth committing more than $3.5 billion for recovery. Assistant federal treasurer Daniel Mulino says some insurers have been too slow to clean up devastated communities. "(About) 90 to 95 per cent of claims are resolved within a year or so but that still leaves a very large number of claims hanging on," he this week told ABC Radio. "We've seen in a number of instances, hundreds and sometimes thousands of people with still unresolved claims a year or even two years after the disaster." Some 6000 people currently have claims lodged with the insurance council. Applications opened on Friday for commonwealth-state payments to help cover costs for items including food, clothing, medication and emergency accommodation.
West Australian
30-05-2025
- West Australian
Flood victims wait in hope for future-proof solutions
From the door of Mel Connell's gift shop, in shin-deep water, the only things still recognisable were a few hanging festoon and fairy lights. After 14 years as a small retailer, she had to refashion her premises after floods ripped through the northern NSW town of Lismore in February 2022. By September, Ms Connell had reopened with $50 in her pocket and an unfinished building. She was thousands more short in products and equipment. Three years later, she still feels the impact. "It's been an extremely hard slog, I'm never doing that again," Ms Connell tells AAP. "I've got a business, my partner also has a job here, we've got a home loan. We can't just pack up and leave." Every time it rains heavily, she "freaks out". "People died here and we had a billion-dollar emergency, so I just wish the government would actually have some kind of plan in place to help us in the future." Tensions are high across the state's mid north coast and Hunter regions with more than a thousand properties uninhabitable and dozens more beyond repair. Insurance premiums have skyrocketed, with residents launching GoFundMe efforts to help salvage inundated homes. The Fitzgerald family in Taree had to set one up after insurers declined to cover them after they were flooded for a first time. "When the second flood struck, they were left with absolutely nothing," says campaign organiser Sharon Revell. "To make matters even more heartbreaking, the boys recently lost their beloved mum to terminal cancer. "Her passing has left three sons, one of whom lives with a disability, without their home, their stability and their mother." Elsewhere, GoFundMe organisers say insurance premiums for another second-time victim jumped four times their original cost following NSW floods in March 2021. About 1.36 million properties are at any time at risk of flooding across the state and in Victoria and Queensland, according to the Insurance Council of Australia. In Lismore, Ms Connell wants to see infrastructure built to withstand future events after 2022 triggered an exodus of residents. "People would reinvest into the town and not just our town, everywhere," she says. "We've had eight years with floods, we're trying to get the town back on its feet and it would bring positivity back. "It would be life-changing for a lot of people and having some kind of ... solution so they don't leave the postcode and can still purchase a property out of the flood zone would contribute to the economy here." There may be light at the end of the tunnel for residents and business owners with the insurance council calling for government and the sector to establish a $30 billion dollar fund to protect flood-prone communities. In a report issued prior to the federal election, it urged the building more flood defence infrastructure, buying-back properties and strengthening others in harm's way. "There is a solution. It's going to be a public-private partnership between government and insurers," the council's executive director Andrew Hall told Sydney radio station 2GB this week. "There are 220,000 homes on the east coast of Australia that are sitting in a two or five per cent chance of flooding every year. "We've priced the de-risking of 24 catchments on the east coast over a period of 10 years." However in Taree, a community which has been decimated by the recent floods, Mayor Claire Pontin says council looked at constructing higher levees but the cost outweighed the benefit. "Had we built those levees back then, this flood would have gone over the top of them anyway," she says. "All those issues about flood mitigation works to try and make our assets, and the community's assets, more resilient to flooding is on the table." Inflated insurance premiums have become a recurring conversation with flood affected victims. Last year, residents told of being forced to endure unreasonable wait times and being overcharged by insurers to an inquiry into flood failures. One claimed to have been left in the lurch for 18 months. "I am emotionally exhausted, I lost all my belongings," they said in a submission. "I have tried to obtain online quotes from other insurers and they are either exorbitant or they refuse to insure in our area. "We applied for a buyback of the property through the resilient homes fund but have been rejected, despite having six properties surrounding us that have been bought back and in the process of being demolished." The NSW Department of Planning is in the throes of responding to inquiry recommendations following the 2022 floods. "The government is stopping inappropriate developments on dangerous floodplains," according to a spokesperson. "To proactively plan and mitigate against the impacts of floods in NSW, the Department is taking a risk-based approach to planning decisions on dangerous flood plains." Queensland's Department of Infrastructure says it has been liaising with other agencies on policy. "Key actions such as natural hazard mapping (has been) undertaken across the state and each local government area implements their own flood risk mapping tools for Queenslanders to utilise and check risk for personal safety and property," a spokesperson says. "The department continues to work closely with various other agencies and local councils responsible for navigating the state's preparedness for natural hazards, risk and resilience, particularly when it comes to land use." About 300,000 people lodged claims with insurance companies after the 2022 NSW floods, with the state and Commonwealth committing more than $3.5 billion for recovery. Assistant federal treasurer Daniel Mulino says some insurers have been too slow to clean up devastated communities. "(About) 90 to 95 per cent of claims are resolved within a year or so but that still leaves a very large number of claims hanging on," he this week told ABC Radio. "We've seen in a number of instances, hundreds and sometimes thousands of people with still unresolved claims a year or even two years after the disaster." Some 6000 people currently have claims lodged with the insurance council. Applications opened on Friday for commonwealth-state payments to help cover costs for items including food, clothing, medication and emergency accommodation.
