The most active months are January, February, and March when cyclones travel from the north and typically head southeast or southwest toward the mainland. In general thus far, the most severe storms have struck the north and northwest coasts where there is little population. The majority of cyclone risk in Australia resides in the state of Queensland. However cyclones have historically lacked severity and occurred infrequently near Brisbane. Up the coast further to the north, the exposure is more sparse in towns such as Mackay, Townsville, and Cairns, however cyclones occur with higher frequency and greater severity.
Scientists believe that areas south of Brisbane have virtually no cyclone risk.
Since 1994 the RMS Australia Earthquake Model has been utilized by the local insurance industry, multi-national insurers writing business in Australia, the global reinsurance community, and capital markets constituents to evaluate and transfer earthquake risk in Australia. Australia lies in the middle of the Australian tectonic plate, a stable continental region home to some of the oldest geological formations on the Earth's surface. In general, Australia has low seismicity compared to some of the more active areas in the world such as Japan and California. No plate boundary lies within mainland Australia, and there is no subduction zone underlying its borders. Distant subduction zone events near Indonesia may be felt in portions of northern Australia that have little exposure.