Chapter 4: Sustainable governance arrangements

Flood risk management is not generally the sole responsibility of government nor of any single level in multilayered governments. Responsibility may lie within different levels of government or government agencies, with the non-government sector or with individuals within the community. In cases where catchments cross country or government service area borders, these responsibilities are shared.

This shared responsibility is identified in the Strategic National Framework on Community Resilience (UK Government Cabinet Office, 2011), which states:

It is also addressed in the 2009 Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission Final Report Summary (Parliament of Victoria, 2010), which states that

The Commission also indicated that shared responsibility does not mean equal responsibility … there are some areas in which the state should assume greater responsibility than the community. For example, in most instances state fire authorities will be more capable than individuals when it comes to identifying the risks associated with bushfire; the state should therefore assume greater responsibility for working to minimise those risks.