About Doctors for the Environment Australia

About Doctors for the Environment Australia

Doctors for the Environment Australia (DEA) is an organisation of medical professionals that protect human health through care of the environment. The devastating impacts of climate change on human health and the solutions needed to address this grave threat are a major focus of our work.

Our members are GPs, surgeons, physicians, anaesthetists, psychiatrists, paediatricians, public health specialists, academics, medical students and researchers, bringing leadership and expertise from every branch of medicine.

All our members are volunteers and are the foundation of our organisation, donating funds, their time, knowledge and expertise to educate, advocate and campaign for action to protect human health.

DEA is funded predominantly by our members (doctors and medical students), along with some philanthropic funding.

Since DEA formed in 2001, we have been guided by our vision ‘Healthy Planet, Healthy People’. We use compelling scientific evidence to demonstrate the important health benefits of clean air and water, biodiverse natural places, stable climates and sustainable health care systems.

DEA acknowledges Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the Traditional Owners of the lands on which we live and work. We recognise that First Nations peoples have cared for Country for millennia and seek to learn from Indigenous ways of knowing, being and doing. We acknowledge that sovereignty of this land was never ceded and pay our respects to First Nations Elders past and present, and to emerging leaders.

Learn more by downloading our Information Brochure.

If you would like to support DEA by providing a donation please click here. All donations to the DEA Fund exceeding $2.00 are tax deductible.

Vision and Mission

VISION: HEALTHY PLANET, HEALTHY PEOPLE.

We understand that human health and wellbeing are absolutely dependent upon a richly biodiverse planet where healthy ecosystems sustain life in balance. Humans need a future with clean air and water, healthy soils producing nutritious food, a stable climate, and a complex, diverse and interconnected humanity whose needs are met in a sustainable way.

OUR MISSION :PROTECT HEALTH THROUGH CARE OF THE ENVIRONMENT.

We aim to educate and alert colleagues, patients, the public and politicians to:

  • The requirement for a healthy natural environment for good human health.
  • The need to prevent and redress environmental degradation locally and globally.
  • The need for sustainable development that meets the needs of the present generation without compromising future generations.
  • The use of the best available scientific evidence as the basis for decisions, and the precautionary principle where the evidence is unclear.

CORE VALUES

These are our core beliefs and principles and it is from these our organisation grows to achieve our vision.

DEA VALUES:

  • The health of ecosystems as the basis for human health and wellbeing.
  • Indigenous ecological knowledge and expertise in understanding and caring for Country
  • Activities that foster stewardship for our environment
  • Scientific evidence as the basis for environmental protection, and the precautionary approach

DEA RESPECTS:

  • The dedication, knowledge and contribution of our members and a nurturing, mutually supportive organisational environment to foster these.
  • Professional and scientific integrity in guiding evidence-based educational and advocacy activities.
  • Australia’s First Nations peoples and their long history of sustainable stewardship of Country.
  • The importance of de-colonisation, self-determination & autonomy, in achieving justice for First Nations peoples.

DEA RECOGNISES:

DEA’s members live and work around Australia. We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the Traditional Owners of these lands, in the spirit of reconciliation.

We recognise that First Nations peoples have cared for Country for millennia and seek to learn from Indigenous ways of knowing, being and doing.

We acknowledge that sovereignty of this land was never ceded and pay our respects to First Nations Elders past and present, and to emerging leaders. DEA recognises that justice for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples is intrinsically important and is committed to working in solidarity with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and organisations.