On 9 May 2017, the Senate referred the following matter to the Environment and Communications References Committee for inquiry and report: The current and future impacts of climate change on housing, buildings and infrastructure, accounting for the full range of projected climate scenarios, having regard to matters, including:

(a) recent and projected changes in sea level rises, and storm surge intensity;

(b) recent and projected changes in temperature and precipitation;

(c) recent and projected changes in extreme weather, including heatwaves, bushfires, floods, and cyclones;

(d) recent and projected changes in natural coastal defence systems including coral reefs, kelp and mangrove forests;

(e) the impact of these changes on the vulnerability of infrastructure in coastal areas;

(f) the impact of these changes on water supply and sewage treatment systems;

(g) the impact of these changes on transportation, including railways, roads and airports;

(h) the impact of these changes on energy infrastructure, including generators and transmission and distribution lines;

(i) the impact of these changes on health, education and social services infrastructure, including hospitals, schools and aged care;

(j) the impact of these changes on private and public housing;

(k) the impact of these changes on public recreation and tourism facilities;

(l) the impact on financing and insurance arrangements for housing, buildings and infrastructure;

(m) the adequacy of current state and Commonwealth policies to assess, plan and implement adaptation plans and improved resilience of infrastructure; and

(n) any other related matters.

Chapter 1 of this report has outlined introductory matters about this inquiry. Chapters 2 to 10 provide an overview of the evidence provided to the committee.
Members of the committee have expressed their views in additional comments attached to this report.