Help kids at risk in dangerously hot homes
Take Action: Make your voice heard
Help us get this report in front of every politician in the country and create the change we want to see!
Kids, more than adults, need a comfortable environment to thrive and stay healthy. Every parent and every place of education deserves to be able to run their air-conditioner and have access to bill-busting rooftop solar energy. To achieve this will require a once-in-a-generation policy change. Will you share our Report with your MP and help build support needed to create heat-wave safe communities?
Use our email tool to send a message to your representatives >>
Our report, Hothouse Australia: Our kids at risk as heat soars, shows the devastating impact of extreme heat on families and the difficult choices families face in hot summers.
Key findings
1. Our children are feeling the worst impacts of heat
Kids are physiologically less able to regulate their temperatures than adults, and they experience adverse effects from heat at lower temperatures.
2. The spiralling cost of living is forcing families to switch off
The high cost of cooling Australia’s poorly insulated and energy-inefficient homes is causing families to switch off their cooling appliances at record levels.
3. Renting in Australia is becoming a heat hazard
Renters are disproportionately exposed to the negative effects of low energy efficiency housing and low-quality cooling devices, coupled with restrictions on the modifications they can make to their homes and some landlords that are unwilling to make their properties more thermally safe.
4. School is not a guaranteed refuge from heat at home
Learning outcomes decrease by about 1.5% with each 2°C increase in temperature above 24°C. Yet there is no coordinated program across Australian governments to provide adequately cooled schools and early child learning centres.
5. Australian governments have a critical role in managing the health and social risks of heat
While the National Health and Climate Strategy is a welcome development, there is no cohesive or comprehensive approach to managing climate-based health risks from Australian Governments.
.