The NSW Office of Emergency Management (OEM) is improving the process of insurance claims for flood and bushfire affected councils across the state with an online portal.
The OEM has utilised disaster-management software by cloud software company Civica, which allows documentation for assessment — such as photographs, ledgers and attachments — to be submitted and viewed by the assessor immediately.
NSW councils that have used the solution to collect emergency works and damages for the recent bushfire and flooding events will be able to submit data and images to Transport for New South Wales and Public Works Advisory through the online portal, as of April 6. The agencies will then be able to review submissions, approve, or seek more information on each request.
A spokesperson from the OEM said the portal would make the process of submitting data much easier.
“The benefit of communications happening in real time means the processing of submissions can be completed quickly. We know this is important to our stakeholders within councils,” they said.
For fire and flood affected NSW councils not using the portal, the NSW government and Civica have extended their offer to use the software to improve dataflow and communications in the instance of future severe weather events.
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