Seven events generated more than $3.98 billion of insured losses in the year to June, up more than $1.7 billion on the previous year, the Insurance Council of Australia says.

Insurers responded to floods, storms, hail and bushfires, alongside the terrorist attack at Bondi Beach and conflict in the Middle East.

The largest single event was storms and hail that hit Queensland and NSW in November, bringing incurred losses of $2.23 billion, the latest Insurance Catastrophe Resilience Report reveals.

“Australia is in urgent need of a plan to tackle both the resilience and the costs of housing over the long term,” ICA CEO Andrew Hall said. “Australia will not tackle the housing shortage while disasters keep pushing existing homes back into the repair queue.”

The report details inflated building costs, which Mr Hall says are “adding real pressure” to the cost of premiums.

“Every insurance claim draws on the same builders, trades and materials needed to deliver new housing, stretching an already constrained construction sector even further,” he said.

“AI data centre construction and the 2032 Olympic Games will add further demand into an already stretched sector.”

The report cites Cotality data showing building costs have risen about 30% over the past five years, outpacing inflation of about 24%. The cost of roof tiles grew 77% and windows, plaster, plywood, copper piping, structural steel, cement and concrete each climbed at least 37%.

A standard home in Queensland now costs about 45% more to build than in 2021.

ICA says flood losses averaged $129 million a year in the 2000s but have averaged about $2 billion a year since 2020.

The report calls for indexing of the Disaster Ready Fund; large-scale flood defence infrastructure, improved land use planning, expanded buyback and relocation programs; and more resilient homes.

The seven ICA events declared significant or a catastrophe in the past financial year were:

• Severe spring storms in October/November; 41,378 claims; $1.07 billion insured losses.
• Queensland and NSW severe storms and hail in November; 95,692 claims; $2.23 billion insured losses.
• Bondi terror attack in December; 38 claims; $600,000 losses.
• Victorian bushfires in January/February; 4852 claims; $598.6 million losses.
• Middle East conflict in February/March; 1997 claims; $4.1 million losses.
• NT flooding in March; 389 claims; $40.6 million losses.
• Queensland flooding in March; 3206 claims; $45.9 million losses.