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Tasmanian home owners have access to a new app that reveals if their property is at risk of bushfires and landslides.
As we approach the middle of the bushfire season, and fires in Tasmania appear to be under control, the state government has developed a service for people to determine if they are in harm’s way.
RiskReady was launched in mid-December after more than a year of development.
Although it allows people to enter their address to quickly identify if their property is at risk of a natural hazard, the state government has not advertised the tool.
Greens MP Rosalie Woodruff told the ABC that public servants had been told not to promote the website.
“They’ve spent money, and public servants have done very important and excellent work getting this tool up and ready. We understand that public servants have been barred from promoting it,” Ms Woodruff said.
In a statement to the ABC, a spokeswoman rejected the claims the government had stopped government workers from speaking about RiskReady.
“To avoid overshadowing other important public messaging around preparing for bushfire season and a general awareness campaign for the State Emergency Service, a decision was made to not to actively promote this tool at this time,” the spokeswoman said.
Although the Real Estate Institute of Tasmania was not aware of RiskReady, its president believed it could be a valuable tool for home buyers.
“Knowledge is a wonderful thing with regard to the purchase of a piece of real estate,” REIT president Mandy Welling said.
“Our only concern would be [the potential for] misconception or misunderstanding, so, for example, landslip areas have different gradings and different zones, and a lot of people would automatically hear ‘landslip’ and think that’s a no-go zone.
“It’s really important that people really understand what these things mean. That would be our concern as an industry, that the people who jump online might not understand the references on the website.”
RiskReady cost $50,000 to build, and it was backed by both the Department of Premier and Cabinet and the Tasmania Fire Service.
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