School students hold up placards as they march at a School Strike 4 Climate rally calling for climate action in Melbourne on Nov 17, 2023. (PHOTO / AFP)

CANBERRA - Rising global temperatures pose a significant threat to healthcare, security, infrastructure and finance, an Australian government report has warned.

The federal government on Tuesday published its first National Climate Risk Assessment, identifying 56 nationally significant climate risks facing Australia including 11 priority risk areas ranging from water resources to economic resilience.

Under a plausible worst-case scenario, the report said, insurers and banks could withdraw services from communities vulnerable to extreme weather events, causing a cascading effect on infrastructure and the built environment

It predicts that climate change could undermine Australia's economy, trade, and financial systems, stretch the resources of defense forces and emergency services and that hospitals and health professionals will be confronted by new communicable diseases.

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Under a plausible worst-case scenario, the report said, insurers and banks could withdraw services from communities vulnerable to extreme weather events, causing a cascading effect on infrastructure and the built environment.

Releasing the report, Assistant Climate Change and Energy Minister Jenny McAllister said the government would undertake a more detailed analysis of the 11 priority risks that will be released by the end of 2024.

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The 11 priority areas identified by the report were water security, the natural environment, primary industries and food, health and social support, regional and remote communities, defense and national security, infrastructure, supply chains, communities and settlement, governance, and economy, trade and finance.

"Australians know that the climate has changed. They feel it on hotter days and experience it in extreme weather events which occur more frequently. This work will help us better prepare for the small and big challenges that climate change brings," McAllister said in a statement.

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"We will continue to do everything we can to reduce our emissions and limit the impact of climate change. However we must also take steps to protect Australia's economy, society and natural environment from the changes scientists tell are already locked in."

The government in June 2023 announced a combined 400 million Australian dollars ($264.2 million) in funding for 187 projects to boost Australia's preparedness for future natural disasters.