February 15, 2021 - It was released as the Future Fuels Strategy and if anyone is in doubt as to whether the Government takes decarbonisation of the economy or climate change seriously, they need look no ...
Our Work
Human health depends upon a healthy environment.
The current age of scientific innovation has meant humans have become a dominant influence in shaping the natural world. This has raised the stakes and meant an unprecedented capacity to degrade our natural environment.
While great progress has been made in improving human health, particular in Australia and other OECD countries, local and global environmental degradation now threaten those gains.
DEA urges governments to address the current and future impacts of environmental degradation on human health.
Doctors for the Environment Australia (DEA) is an organisation of doctors who recognise that human health and wellbeing require an environment:
- free of pollution
- capable of providing nutritious food
- rich in biodiversity
- able to provide for current and future generations sustainably.
Review says government must act decisively to overhaul Australia’s major environmental laws
February 9, 2021 - Last week, the long-awaited final report from a legislated 10 year review of the EPBC Act was released. DEA welcomes its recognition of the fundamental failings of the Act and its call for far-reaching reforms to improve environmental protections and restoration in Australia.
Dendrobium coal mine expansion rejected by planning commission
February 8, 2021 - South32 had sought permission to extract an additional 78 million tonnes of coal from its Dendrobium mine, west of Wollongong, until 2048.
Letter to NSW EPA regarding Vales Point power station POEO license 761
January 28, 2021 - Dr Ben Ewald , Convenor of Doctors for the Environment Australia’s National Air Pollution Special Interest Group has written a letter to the NSW EPA regarding Vales Point power station ...
Pre-Budget submission 2021
January 22, 2021 - Human health and the environment are facing massive challenges. DEA made recommendations that include the recognition of and funding for the impending health crises imposed by climate change and the ...
7am: Climate change will kill you, part one- heat
January 6, 2021 - Australians are already feeling the effects of a warming planet on their health. Journalist Paddy Manning and 7am examine the impact of heat in the first of a three-part podcast ...
New DEA Podcast! Sustainable menstrual products
December 23, 2020 - This month’s episode on the DEA podcast is all about sustainable menstrual products. What are they? What do doctors need to know about them? Why do people use them? Are ...
Push for healthcare sector to reduce carbon footprint
December 17, 2020 - Croakey author Nicole Mackee quotes Hayden Burch co-author of the DEA zero net emissions report, in this article reporting on how far behind Australia is in reducing our greenhouse gas ...
Healthcare must be part of climate change solution
December 17, 2020 - PRESENTLY, the world is on track for a 3.2°C temperature rise with current emission pledges – a temperature incompatible with human civilisation, let alone healthy populations.….Written by DEA members Eugenie Kayak and ...
Report: Net Zero Emissions for Australia’s healthcare sector (14 Dec 2020)
December 13, 2020 - Towards net zero emissions in healthcare The changing climate is exposing our patients and communities to more frequent and intense extreme weather. Health professionals are increasingly treating climate-related illnesses, and ...
Should you talk with your doctor about climate change? | Helen Redmond | TEDxDarlinghurst
December 9, 2020 - Climate Change has been declared a health emergency by doctors all over the world. Dr Helen Redmond explains in this compelling and inspirational TedxDarlinghurst talk why climate change is a health problem, ...
Media release: DEA welcomes the WA Climate and Health Inquiry
December 7, 2020 - DEA welcomes the WA Climate and Health Inquiry the first statutory inquiry in the world focused on the health impacts of climate change. WA DEA Chair Dr Emma-Leigh Synnott says that ...
Media Release: Launch of 2020 report of the Lancet Countdown on health and climate change
December 2, 2020 - In response to the 2020 report of the Lancet Countdown on health and climate change which has revealed the most concerning trends in climate change impacts to date, DEA is ...
Climate Change (National Framework for Adaptation and Mitigation) Bills 2020
November 20, 2020 - Zali Steggall’s proposed climate change Bills have triggered the first parliamentary inquiry into why Australia should commit and legislate to net zero emissions by 2050. The Bills will assist the ...
Doctors: Set emissions targets to zero as quickly as possible to address dangerous climate change
November 13, 2020 - Doctors are urging all state and federal governments to set emissions targets to zero as quickly as possible to address dangerous climate change. Medical group Doctors for the Environment Australia is responding to the ...
Independent Australia: Why can’t the Australian Healthcare Sector commit to net zero emissions if the National Health Service (NHS) can?
November 11, 2020 - The UK’s NHS has announced a wide-sweeping plan to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2040, the first national health system in the world to do so, writes Dr Caroline ...
DEA applauds the NSW Electricity Infrastructure Roadmap
November 9, 2020 - Doctors for the Environment Australia has welcomed the NSW Government’s electricity infrastructure roadmap for the orderly switch of NSW’s energy supply from coal to renewable energy sources. The burning of ...
DEA and AMA partner on climate
October 26, 2020 - Read our media release here.
The Mandarin Opinion: health, not gas, should be put at the centre of Australia’s economic recovery
October 21, 2020 - “In a future where climate change looms large as a threat to health and where our primary disease burden is shaped by lifestyle and environment, shouldn’t we place health front ...
Croakey: Where was Australia during the UN biodiversity summit?
October 21, 2020 - Given Australia’s rich natural endowment, Northern Territory GP Dr Rosalie Schultz asks: why was Australia missing in action during the recent United Nations Biodiversity Summit? If, as our representatives stated ...