Funding mechanisms for disaster recovery: can we afford to build back better?

Special (yet limited) betterment funds were made available for the Christchurch reconstruction and similarly for post-flood reconstruction that was in progress at the same time in Queensland, Australia (which will also be explored in the paper). However, recent recovery funding reviews conducted in New Zealand and Australia have identified a need to investigate incentives to increase proactive investment to limit damage. This paper explores this proposition and presents some of the challenges faced with respect to building back better in Christchurch's reconstruction and the subsequent lessons for developing future funding mechanisms for disaster recovery. It demonstrates the need for clearer terms of engagement between central government and local government, and how insurance mechanisms could play a more effective role.