While the 2026 Federal Budget includes several welcome measures supporting renewable energy and environmental protection, it remains a missed opportunity to respond to the scale of the intertwined health and environmental challenges facing Australia.
Overall, the budget does not reflect the urgency and gravity of the threat to Australians’ health and wellbeing posed by the interconnected crises of climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution.
In its pre-budget submission to the Treasury, DEA recommended the phased withdrawal of fossil fuel subsidies alongside stronger support for renewable energy and electrification. DEA is concerned that the budget did not include stronger measures to reduce fossil fuel dependence and redirect revenue toward climate resilience, clean energy transition, health system preparedness, and enhancing the health of communities. The continuation of fuel tax credits also represents a missed opportunity to accelerate the transition away from diesel dependence and reduce the health impacts of transport related pollution.
DEA welcomes several measures supporting decarbonisation and healthier communities, including the continuation of the successful Cheaper Home Batteries program, funding for the Active Transport Fund, the electrification of Australia Post’s delivery fleet, and support for domestic clean energy industries through Future Made in Australia. However, these measures remain modest relative to what is required.
DEA also called for adequate funding of mandated Health Impact Assessments (HIAs) for proposed energy projects. Our submission highlighted emerging Australian research that strengthens the ability to quantify the human and environmental health costs of emissions associated with individual fossil fuel projects. This work challenges longstanding assumptions that the contribution of individual projects to cumulative climate and health harms cannot be meaningfully assessed.
DEA also called for stronger investment in biodiversity protection, including financial support for the Government’s commendable National 30 x 30 Roadmap relating to the Kunming -Montreal Global Biodiversity framework. Adequate investment in biodiversity protection is important for both ecosystems and human health.
Ongoing biodiversity loss and land use change are increasingly linked to threats including heat vulnerability, greater burden of infectious disease, food insecurity and declining mental health. DEA also supports investment in marine protected areas under the recently ratified High Seas Biodiversity Treaty.
The budget’s $500 million package to implement Australia’s nature law reforms, including $250 million for the establishment of the much-needed Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), should be acknowledged as a step forward, though it needs to be backed up by ongoing support. However, these reforms may be constrained by the substantial reduction in funding to the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water.
While many health organisations will welcome the increased funding of $25 billion for public hospitals and $1.8 billion for Urgent Care Clinics, DEA is concerned by the absence of dedicated investment linked to the implementation of the important National Health and Climate Strategy.
DEA recommended dedicated funding to support the implantation of this Strategy, including measures to strengthen health system resilience, and to expand climate and health education across the health and aged care sector. The budget does not appear to provide dedicated funding for these priorities.
Recent events have also highlighted Australia’s ongoing dependence on fossil fuels, and the vulnerabilities this creates for energy security, public health, and economic resilience. This budget presented an opportunity to accelerate the transition from fossils fuels to renewable energy, strengthen environmental protection, and support nature protection and restoration. A stronger One Health approach that recognises the interdependence of human, animal and environmental health, would have better reflected the scale and urgency of the challenges Australia faces.
While DEA acknowledges several positive measures within the budget, overall it falls short of the scale of action required to protect the health of current and future generations.
Rob Ferris
18/05/2026