Where health and climate meets policy and politics
Parliament House, Canberra
For Day 1 of our forum we bring together leaders from health, politics, and advocacy to explore the critical intersections between human health and our environment. We will examine the health impacts of current policies on energy, environmental protection, and climate change - and identify pathways toward a healthier future for our communities and the planet upon which we all depend.
The day will feature keynote addresses from national and international thought leaders, alongside dynamic panel discussions that dive into the evidence and explore practical solutions for improving both human and planetary health.
09:00
MC Opening
Introduction to the forum with our MC Dr Kate Wylie
09:10
Welcome to Country - Tina King Brown, Ngunnawal Elder
DEA acknowledges that our forum is being held on Ngunnawal Country. We acknowledge the Ngunnawal people as the traditional owners of the land on which Parliament House sits. We acknowledge and respect their continuing culture and connections to their land, water and community and pay respect to the Elders of the Ngunnawal Nation past, present and emerging. Always was always will be.
9:20
Opening address from the Hon Kate Thwaites MP
We are honoured to have the Hon Kate Thwaites MP and Special Envoy for Climate Change Adaptation and Resilience with the Department of Climate Change Energy the Environment and Water (DCCEEW) give the opening address for the day, outlining the governments intentions regarding emissions reductions and preparedness for climate impacts.
09:30
Treating our planet's health - Dr Kate Wylie, Executive Director, Doctors for the Environment Australia
Dr Wylie will introduce our day outlining the program and provide an overview of the state of our planets health. She will describe how we have breached the safe operating zone for climate change, biodiversity loss, freshwater use and other planetary health boundaries due to our dependency on fossil fuels and outline a treatment pathway to move us on from coal, oil and gas to protect the health of everything we hold dear.
09:50
Climate care is health care - Distinguished Laureate Professor Nicholas Talley AC, Board Chair Doctors for the Environment Australia
Professor Talley is a world renowned gastroenterologist, public health physician, researcher and educator. He will discuss how climate change is impacting our health in multiple myriad ways and undermining the capacity of our health systems to care for our communities. He will speak to the responsibility that health professionals and the broader community have in doing everything we can to address this extreme health threat and the opportunities we have to treat climate change.
10:10
Pacific Communities: the lived experience of our changing climate - Dr Jemesa Tudravu, Permanent Secretary for Health and Medical Services, Fiji Government
We are honoured to have Dr Tudravu participating in our forum. For the Pacific Community, climate change is lived reality that is having severe detrimental health impacts including sea level rise, food and water insecurity, infectious disease and displacement. The profound impact of the loss of country on cultural, physical and psychological health cannot be understated.
As Australia looks to host COP31 with the Pacific Nations next year, it is vital that we highlight this real-world experience.
10:30
Panel - Energy Policy and Health Inequity
Our first panel of the day will explore how health is being impacted by the energy we use to power our homes, cities and communities. Our reliance on coal oil and gas not only impacts global heating but also has direct health impacts from air pollution. Our energy policy should protect both our domestic and global community rather than adding to the disease burden.
Our panellists are:
- Dr Cassandra Goldie, the CEO of the Australian Council of Social Services
- The Hon Allegra Spender MP, the member for Wentworth
- Dr Terry Slevin, the CEO of the Public Health Association of Australia.
Our facilitator is Dr Kimberley Humphrey, DEA board member and the Climate Change Lead at SA Health.
11:10 Morning Tea
11:40
First Nations experience of climate change - Francis Nona, Torres Strait Island leader, Lecturer of Indigenous Strategy, Carumba Institute
Mr Nona is a descendent of the Dhoebow clan of Saibai Island and has strong ties to Badu Island in the Torres Straits. He is a lecturer and researcher at QUT. He brings to academia a strong understanding of cultural engagement and protocol from his Country and an understanding of the health system as it applies to First Nations and other Australians. Mr Nona will speak to his experience and discuss the health impacts of climate change for First Nations people.
12:00
Panel - Planetary Health: How the health of our planet impacts the health of our communities
The impacts of planetary health on our human civilisation and the natural world are being felt all across the globe. There is not any nation who has not been impacted by climate pollution, extreme heat and severe weather. Whilst some of us in a wealthy nation like Australia may be buffered by its health impacts, there are part of our world that are becoming increasingly uninhabitable. The panel will explore our international obligations and ways that we can effect positive change.
Our panellists are:
- The Hon Dr Monique Ryan MP, the member for Kooyong
- Dr Si Thu Win Tin, Deputy Director of the Public Health Division at the Pacific Community (SPC), Noumea.
Our facilitator is Dr Aditya Vyas, DEA board member and Co-chair of CAPHIA Climate and Public Health Education Network.
12:40
Air pollution - Dr Carolyn Orr, DEA board secretary
Burning fossil fuels not only causes climate change, it also is one of worlds major causes of air pollution which has profound impacts on our physical health. Climate change is increasing the severity of bush fires, another major source of air pollution, as is the smoke from wood fired stoves and heating.
Dr Orr will demonstrate how this pollution impacts our health across our lifespan and will outline what we can do to reduce this health threat and protect ourselves from harm.
13:00
Caring for Water - Senator Sarah Hanson Young - The Australian Greens
Water insecurity is becoming an increasingly present problem for South Australians, due to drought and the impacts of climate on the Murray-Darling Basin. The ecological collapse being seen in local waters due to the algal bloom is bringing home the importance of climate action to protect biodiversity and human health.
13:10 - 14:00 Lunch
14:00
A word from our sponsor: Supporting Sustainable Healthcare Systems.
Roger Sharp, BUPA’s Chief Sustainability & Corporate Affairs Officer, will briefly outline their sustainability strategy focused on building a healthy future for both people and planet.
14:10
We can afford to act on climate and we can't afford not to - Richard Denniss, The Australia Institute
Economist Dr Denniss, will rebut the common argument that climate action is too expensive and demonstrate how we can afford to move on from fossil fuels if we choose to do so. He will further discuss how centrism in Australian politics is a barrier to a just transition, demonstrating how the sensible centre and evidence based policy are not the same thing.
14:40
Panel - Preparing healthcare for our changing climate
As the impacts of climate change are increasingly felt in the clinical practice of doctors and nurses in Australia, it is important that our health system is equipped to meet the challenge. This panel will discuss what our health sector is doing to both mitigate its carbon footprint and prepare for the impacts of climate pollution.
Our panellists are:
- Dr Kerri Aust, GP and AMA ACT president
- Associate Professor Chris Leung, Sustainability Steering Committee at Austin Health and DEA deputy chair.
- Ms Madeleine Skellern Director of National Health, Sustainability and Climate Unit.
Our facilitator is Dr Angie Bone, DEA board member and Associate Professor of Practice in Planetary Health at Monash Sustainable Development Institute, Monash University.
15:20
Panel - Healthy planet, healthy people: why caring for nature is caring for ourselves
A healthy environment is fundamental to the health of human beings, but our environment is being harmed by ongoing fossil fuel expansion and deforestation. This panel will discuss the importance of environmental policy and environmental decision making on our human health and the health of the planet on which we rely.
Our panellists are:
- Arabella Douglas a Minyungbal Bundjalung woman and CEO of Currie Country Social Change
- Senator the Hon David Pocock, ACT Senator
- The Hon Dr Sophie Scamps MP, member for Mackellar.
Our facilitator is Dr Shaun Watson, senior neurologist and DEA board member.
16:00
Closing remarks
*Please note: This Program is correct as of the time of publishing but may be updated, added to, or amended prior to the event