As Australia heads into its bushfire and cyclone season, the Turnbull government has a rejected a call for a $200 million a year federal investment in natural disaster mitigation.
The Productivity Commission's 2014 report into natural disaster funding arrangements made the recommendation for a gradual mitigation funding increase, arguing it is more efficient than spending money on recovery.
Justice Minister Michael Keenan released the government's long-awaited response to the report on Thursday, announcing it would not pursue the recommendation at this stage.
He said mitigation is primarily a state and territory responsibility.
State and territory governments had raised significant concerns about the proposal to reduce the federal government's contribution to recovery funding, he said.
However, the government was considering allowing states to use any left over money from reconstruction projects of essential public assets towards future disaster mitigation activities.
Mr Keenan said since the commission's report was released, federal and state governments had been developing and testing a new disaster recovery funding model.
It was based on an upfront assessment of damage and estimated reconstruction prices, rather than the current reimbursement model.
The changes would not alter the level of support the federal government provides to jurisdictions.
"Instead it aims to strike the right balance between recovery and mitigation by reducing barriers to building back better when appropriate," Mr Keenan said.
