Half of all Aussie homes at serious risk to natural disasters

It's a now familiar devastation, fresh memories of fire or flood. And as the population grows and spreads, so too does the threat. We are seeing more people live on perilous land in order to find a place to call home. 5.6 million Australian properties are now at risk of bushfires, close to a million face flooding risks and thousands more are threatened by coastal erosion. The main point of today's Future Housing Forum in Sydney addressing a lack of awareness. We found just 29% of Australians know the risks that are associated with their property when faced against a natural disaster. Here's the number of homes at risk of Bush fire and flood in each state. In some cases, it's as many as half or even 2/3 of all properties. An extreme danger areas stand out. For example, the Upper Yarra Valley has the nation's highest Bush fire risk, Ballina has the highest flood risk, and Surfers Paradise has the biggest coastal erosion threat. But with insurance premiums shooting higher, more and more people aren't covered. If you're in one of those areas that's prone to either Bush fire or flood, chances are you've been hit with a premium quote that is way above what you're going to afford. And secondly, you might find that your insurer has come to you and said, look, I'm not prepared to renew. A crisis that needs multiple sectors and layers of government to urgently find a solution. Often we find that the property conversation, the climate change conversation, are in isolation and it is crucial that we have that conversation together. Chris Kohler, 9 News.