Resources and information

Below is information on, and examples of, local government adaptation initiatives, which can cover everything from water-sensitive urban design to green infrastructure, flood-risk planning, emergency responses, and updating asset and risk registers.

Minimising the impacts of extreme heat in local communities

Extreme heat events have killed more Australians in the past 200 years than any other natural hazard and this is likely to increase with climate change. 

To assist communities to be safe from, prepared for and resilient to current and projected risks of extreme heat, we have led the development of a guide to assist local government better understand and minimise the impacts of extreme heat on local communities. 

Minimising the impacts of extreme heat: A guide for local government provides information on risks to water and air quality, food safety and infrastructure networks, as well as preparing for extreme heat events, examines approaches for minimising impacts and clarifies roles and responsibilities in relation to extreme heat events in NSW.

Increasing Resilience to Climate Change Grants

The Increasing Resilience to Climate Change (IRCC) council grants are a partnership with Local Government NSW (LGNSW) to provide funding to address identified climate change risks and vulnerabilities facing NSW local councils.

The Increasing Resilience to Climate Change council grants is providing $2.8m from the NSW Climate Change Fund directly to councils in NSW to take action to respond to the impacts of climate change.

Grants are available to individual councils and groups of councils. Collaboration with one or more councils, regional organisations, business or government agencies, community groups and other organisations is encouraged. Applications under Round one closed in March 2019. Round 2 closed in September 2019.

The program is administered by LGNSW. For more information, contact Stef Garland at LGNSW on (02) 9242 4019.

Round 3 open

NSW councils can apply for a share of $605,000 in the third round of Increasing Resilience to Climate Change grants for councils. The grants of between $30,000 and $120,000 are available for individual and groups of councils to increase their resilience and respond to identified climate risks and vulnerabilities in their region.

Applications for Round 3 grant funding are open until Thursday 15 October at 5pm.

For more information and to apply visit the Local Government NSW website: https://lgnsw.org.au/increasingresilience

Leading land-use case studies by local government

Land-use planning strategies are an important part of Local Government's response in mitigating and preparing for climate change. Local Government NSW, together with us, have prepared case studies on how three NSW councils have addressed the need to prepare for climate change through land-use planning strategies. The case studies are:

Urban green cover

We are providing tailored information to enable decision makers to better understand the relationship between land use, urban vegetation and heat at a local scale. This can assist planners to manage risks and capture opportunities to increase urban vegetation, reflective and permeable surfaces to create more liveable cities.

Data from our Urban Heat and Green Cover Baseline Assessment is now available through NSW Government’s SEED portal.

Other resources include:

  • Technical Guidelines for Urban Green Cover in NSW: Practical information for local government and built environment professionals to plan, procure and implement vegetated and reflective roofs, green walls, street plantings, permeable and reflective road surfaces, and cool open spaces.
  • With support from the CRC for Low Carbon Living, University of New South Wales’ High Performance Architect Research Cluster is developing an Urban Heat Island Mitigation Decision Support Tool to inform policy and planning practices related to interventions for mitigating urban heat.

The NSW Adaptation Research Hub

The NSW Adaptation Research Hub is a network of leading experts and researchers in adaptation in NSW. The research outputs are meeting identified gaps in adaptation knowledge, and they may help local governments to apply adaptation within their regions.

Three nodes, addressing Biodiversity, Coastal Processes and Responses and Adaptive Communities, are developing research outcomes to help local government, business and the community to increase their understanding of climate risks and the actions needed to minimise the impacts of climate change.