The Department of Health and Aged Care is to develop a new strategy to ensure Australia’s health system can meet the challenges of climate change.
Launching the strategy consultation, Assistant Minister for Health and Aged Care, Ged Kearney and Assistant Minister for Climate Change and Energy, Jenny McAllister, held a roundtable focus on how the health system could adapt to a changing climate, as well which steps the system could take to reduce emissions.
“The health impacts of climate change cannot be understated,” Ms Kearney said.
“We are already seeing it – from floods, fires, droughts and heatwaves, there are very real threats to the health and wellbeing of all Australians,” she said.
“The effects of climate change are only expected to intensify and it’s important that our health system is prepared to deal with it.”
Ms Kearney said the strategy would establish a three-year plan of action to better prepare the health and aged care sectors for challenges presented by climate change, including more frequent and severe weather events, extreme temperatures, and poor air quality.
She said it would also identify priority areas for action to reduce carbon emissions in the health and aged care sectors, as well as managing the impacts of climate change to ensure all Australians could continue to access good quality health care.
The Assistant Ministers said the consultations would include State and Territory Governments, peak bodies, and other non-Government organisations.
