Australia: Extreme weather to hit community sector

Community organisations are not well prepared to deal with the impact of climate change and extreme weather, new research reveals.

The Australian Council of Social Services (ACOSS) has commissioned research finding small and medium-sized organisations are at risk of permanent closure as a result of major damage to physical infrastructure caused by events like heatwaves, drought, bushfires and floods.

"To date the community sector has been overlooked in the climate change adaptation policy settings," says the report, which is titled Extreme Weather, Climate Change and the Community Sector.