An increase in the frequency and intensity of storms, coastal flooding and spread of diseases anticipate as a result of climate change and sea-level rise. These hazards are likely to damage built environments and adversely affect a significant proportion of Australia’s population. Understanding the assets at risk from climate change hazards is critical to the formulation of adaptation responses and early action is likely to be the most cost effective approach to managing the risk. Understanding the level of exposure of assets, such as buildings, lifeline utilities and infrastructure, under current and future climate projections is fundamental to this process.

The National Exposure Information System (NEXIS) is a significant national capacity building task being undertaken by Geoscience Australia (GA). NEXIS is collecting, collating, managing and providing the exposure information required to assess climate change impacts. It provides residential, business, institutions and lifeline support infrastructure exposure information derived from several fundamental datasets. It provides spatial exposure data at a building level and is often provided to clients for an area of interest. It is also designed to predict future exposure for climate change impact analysis. NEXIS is currently sourcing more specific datasets from various data custodians including state and local governments along with private data providers. NEXIS has been utilised in various climate change impact projects undertaken by CSIRO, the Department of Climate Change (DCC), the Department of Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts (DEWHA), and several universities. Examples of these projects will be outlined during the presentation.