Voluntary Home Buy-Back Program: Reducing Flood Risk & Improving Community Resilience
Tracks
Monarch Room
| Tuesday, July 15, 2025 |
| 2:40 PM - 3:00 PM |
Overview
Vina Varsani, Queensland Reconstruction Authority
Details
Key Presentation Learnings:
1. Learnings from a life-changing buy-back program spanning 10 council areas which were impacted by devastating rainfall and flooding events in 2021-22.
2. Practical insight drawn from the delivery of a home buy-back process, jointly funded by state and federal governments, and led by state government who worked with local government to identify and purchase homes.
3. Challenges, outcomes and benefits of removing flood-affected homes, and thereby changing the fabric of impacted communities. This also includes the complexities of engaging with flood-impacted and potentially traumatised and distressed homeowners.
Speaker
Vina Varsani
General Manager
Queensland Reconstruction Authority
Voluntary Home Buy-Back Program: Reducing Flood Risk & Improving Community Resilience.
Abstract
The 2021-22 rainfall and flooding events were one of the most devastating natural disasters in Queensland’s history, with more than 7,000 homes damaged.
The floods across Queensland and New South Wales were the costliest in Australia’s history.
The Queensland and Australian Governments developed the $741 million Resilient Homes Fund to help Queensland homeowners whose homes were impacted.
Under the Fund, homeowners could register for the Resilient Retrofit, Home Raising or the Voluntary Home Buy-Back (VHBB) programs.
As administrator of the VHBB program, the Queensland Reconstruction Authority engaged directly with local government to obtain flood data to identify the most at-risk and vulnerable applicants.
Voluntary Home Buy-Back was identified for homes that were the most severely impacted or at the greatest risk of future flooding.
Under the VHBB program, 685 homes were successfully bought back, changing the lives of homeowners and their families from the risk of future flooding.
As all properties purchased through the program had to be demolished or removed, and the land re-zoned to non-habitable use, the program is further ensuring that no other person will suffer the devastating impact of flooding in that location again.
As owner of the land which is bought back, participating councils are remediating the sites, with plans in place to expand parks and sporting fields, create pathways and river linkages, and revegetate sites as environmental offsets for conservation purposes.
Potential economic benefits of the VHBB program have included: avoided emergency response costs; avoided residential property damage costs; avoided clean-up costs; and the avoided intangible costs, such as risk to life, flood-induced anxiety and depression.
The Resilient Homes Fund was the first household resilience program of its kind to be offered in Australia and is changing Queenslanders’ lives, as well as the region’s resilience to flooding.
The floods across Queensland and New South Wales were the costliest in Australia’s history.
The Queensland and Australian Governments developed the $741 million Resilient Homes Fund to help Queensland homeowners whose homes were impacted.
Under the Fund, homeowners could register for the Resilient Retrofit, Home Raising or the Voluntary Home Buy-Back (VHBB) programs.
As administrator of the VHBB program, the Queensland Reconstruction Authority engaged directly with local government to obtain flood data to identify the most at-risk and vulnerable applicants.
Voluntary Home Buy-Back was identified for homes that were the most severely impacted or at the greatest risk of future flooding.
Under the VHBB program, 685 homes were successfully bought back, changing the lives of homeowners and their families from the risk of future flooding.
As all properties purchased through the program had to be demolished or removed, and the land re-zoned to non-habitable use, the program is further ensuring that no other person will suffer the devastating impact of flooding in that location again.
As owner of the land which is bought back, participating councils are remediating the sites, with plans in place to expand parks and sporting fields, create pathways and river linkages, and revegetate sites as environmental offsets for conservation purposes.
Potential economic benefits of the VHBB program have included: avoided emergency response costs; avoided residential property damage costs; avoided clean-up costs; and the avoided intangible costs, such as risk to life, flood-induced anxiety and depression.
The Resilient Homes Fund was the first household resilience program of its kind to be offered in Australia and is changing Queenslanders’ lives, as well as the region’s resilience to flooding.
Biography
Ms Vina Varsani is a senior executive who has a passion for delivering positive outcomes for Queenslanders. Vina had ten years’ experience in corporate banking before transitioning into the State Government sector 12 years ago. Vina thrives on merging strategy and policy to create exceptional community results.
In the role of General Manager, Resilience and Recovery at QRA, Vina oversees the Policy and Program design unit, the Hazard and Risk unit and the Voluntary Home Buy-Back program. Vina is passionate about developing best practice, evidence-based strategies and policies to help communities become resilient and recover stronger from disaster events.
