Responding to Catastrophic Natural Disasters and the Need for Commonwealth Legislation

The paper reviews the role of the Commonwealth in responding to natural disasters in Australia and argues that the Commonwealth can and should legislate to define its role, powers and responsibilities. In the absence of legislation governments may be able to rely on non-statutory authority to manage emergencies but it is considered prudent to ensure that the necessary powers are enshrined in legislation, before a disaster strikes. Examples from Canada and the United States are given to show how these federated states have approached the need to empower their federal governments to respond to an emergency