Annabel Sandery, Coastal Lead and adaptation specialist, Hatch
As Australia’s coastal regions face the mounting threat of rising sea levels and intensified natural disasters, a coastal expert and adaptation specialist warns the country’s
The nation’s natural disaster toll reached $5 billion in 2022 following four major bouts of floods,1 and in NSW alone the State’s Reconstruction Authority recently warned the cost of disasters will hit $9.1 billion NSW by 2060 with coastal hazards such as erosion and inundation a key concern.2
While a staggering $11.4 billion was allocated in the Australian Government’s 2024-25 Budget for ongoing recovery efforts,3 Annabel San
Hatch is a global engineering, project delivery and professional services firm with projects in metals, energy and infrastructure. Through her work as Coastal Lead, Annabel has worked across at-risk regions and towns in predominantly South Australia.
Hatch is currently developing the SA Coastal Adaptation Guidelines, in partnership with state and local government. The Guidelines will build consistency and confidence in the way adaptation plans and strategies are developed. By investing early into sound adaptation planning there is the opportunity to significantly curb the nation’s soaring disaster toll, with figures showing every dollar invested in risk reduction and prevention saves up to $22 in post-disaster recovery.4
Annabel says: “When it comes to adaptation planning, the cost-benefit is clear: either delay and pay, or plan and prosper. And this planning can look like investing in resilient infrastructure such as living shorelines (which connect the land and water to stabilise shorelines and reduce erosion), emergency management planning and educating vulnerable communities.”
While the Federal Budget has allocated over $11 billion to ongoing recovery efforts, just $138.7 million over four years has been put aside for disaster management.5
Hatch has spent decades working on coastal estuarine and marine management, helping regional economies survive and prosper after disasters strike and creating liveability solutions across Australia and in remote island communities.
Last year in Adelaide, Hatch joined the $3.7 million federally funded Climate Ready Coasts Foundation Project to roll out proactive measures to safeguard coastal communities, infrastructure
Annabel says: “There are tangible solutions, from living shorelines through to coordinated stakeholder engagement that brings together local communities and government bodies to ensure planning and implementation of coastal projects are inclusive.
“It means establishing clear governance structures and flexible implementation models that account for different coastal, council and community contexts and integrating advanced tech and expertise to ensure innovative and sustainable solutions are harnessed to best manage the coastal risks.”
By addressing the economic, social and environmental risks of a disaster and then supporting communities and government to make crucial changes ahead of time, Annabel says regions can bounce back far quicker and with less of a financial, social and environmental cost.
She points to the living shoreline at the Yitpi Yartapuultiku site in Port Adelaide6, which was an ecological response to safeguard the site from erosion and sea level rise while simultaneously establish
“Many of our regional hubs will bear the brunt of future catastrophes and unless we pour more into prevention and resilience, I only see the situation worsening,” says Annabel. “Our response to climate change has been too glacial and we’re not acting quick enough, we are still responding to recovery instead of resilience.”
About Hatch
Hatch is passionately committed to the pursuit of a better world through positive change. With more than 65 years of experience, Hatch is a leading global services firm specialising in mining and metals, energy, infrastructure and digital technologies. The company draws on more than 10,000 specialist employees in 65 offices around the world, including in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, Wollongong and Newcastle, to tackle some of the world’s toughest challenges. Hatch’s first Australian-based project was the Melbourne Underground Rail Loop in 1976 and since then has helped design and build hundreds of private and public projects. Visit Hatch.com.
[1] https://www.insurancenews.com.
[1] https://www.cityofpae.sa.
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