Anna Bligh was warned of flood risks

THE Bligh government conducted an audit of its ability to manage flood risks and found major gaps and shortcomings several months before the Queensland floods.

THE Bligh government conducted an audit of its ability to manage flood risks and found major gaps and shortcomings several months before Queensland suffered from devastating floods that inundated thousands of homes and claimed 35 lives.

The highly critical audit report, now being examined by the royal commission-style inquiry into the floods, had not been previously acknowledged or released.

The audit is dated September last year and states: "As Queensland enters into a wetter period (La Nina), it is imperative that a strategic, co-ordinated approach for flood planning and mitigation is established."

The audit found: "There is no clearly identified lead agency that champions the responsibility for overall strategic co-ordination of flood management policy across Queensland.

"The audit has identified that there is no consistent approach for flood modelling and planning across the state.

"Some local governments have excellent and comprehensive modelling, while others do not.

"There is virtually no recognition of rarer flood events, which may have a catastrophic impact. There is no central register of flood modelling or mapping.

"Similarly, there are no comprehensive guidelines to help local government facilitate flood planning, and no audit framework for local government flood-management plans.

"The audit also identified that there is a need to incorporate climate change projections into flood management and planning."

The audit praised Brisbane City Council's "very well-resourced" public awareness campaign about flooding, but found there was no co-ordination approach with state government agencies.

The report said most government agencies were heavily committed to delivering non-flood responsibilities and often did not have the capacity to fulfil flood management roles.

"There appears to be the need for a more strategic approach to resource allocation across the Queensland government," the audit states.

The performance of government agencies and public servants will be part of the focus of the inquiry chaired by Supreme Court judge Cate Holmes. The public hearings start on Monday.

The Flood Risk Management Activities Audit, stamped "draft", was prepared by the Department of Environment and Resource Management and called for a lead agency to take responsibility.

The report states: "There is no readily available flood mapping and data available which can be easily updated and made publicly available. There is a tendency

for flood management to be addressed reactively due to the acute nature of these events.

"There is no overarching, strategic co-ordination between local government and the Queensland government for disaster response when a flood event occurs.

"Local disaster management plans . . . do not address the co-ordination of managing a response to a flood, nor do they adequately reflect the planning necessarily associated with flood. There is also little recognition of flood events rarer than the 1-in-100-year flood event."

And the audit criticises the control of development on floodplains, describing it as "very patchy, varying from one local government area to the next".