May 21, 2021 - Today, schoolchildren will again take to the streets to protest that Government policy is failing the next generation. Dr Graeme McLeay writes “to the young people coming out to demonstrate ...
Opinion Pieces
Renew Economy: Australia must kick the gas habit, because it is bad for our health
May 7, 2021 - The Federal Government is continuing its push for a so-called ‘gas-led’ recovery. How could this be when the evidence of health impacts from polluting gas has hardened considerably? Read DEA ...
Roadmap to sustainable health care
May 3, 2021 - Op-ed by one of our members, Dr Eugenie Kayak.
A fossil fuel frenzy is drinking Australia’s finite water resources
April 14, 2021 - The Productivity Commission has produced a 232 page Draft Report on the functioning of the 2004 National Water Initiative (NWI), writes Professor David Shearman.
The importance of environmental water: is the national water initiative up to the job?
April 14, 2021 - Op-ed by our co-founder, Professor David Shearman.
Overhaul water policy development, for the sake of our health
April 12, 2021 - Health and medical expertise should be much more involved in the development of water policy, given its critical importance for health and wellbeing, according to Professor David Shearman, co-founder of Doctors for the Environment Australia.
How droughts and flooding rains affect Australians’ mental health
April 7, 2021 - Op-ed by DEA member Dr Robert Llewellyn-Jones.
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, ...
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 ...
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 ...
MJA letter to the editor: A sustainable future in health, ensuring as health professionals our own house is in order and leading by example
October 21, 2020 - “Congratulations to the Medical Journal of Australia for emphasising the role of health professionals in needing to lead by example towards a sustainable future,” write Drs Eugenie Kayak, Forbes McGain and Hayden ...
The Mercury Talking Point: Support your kids in climate strike today
September 25, 2020 - The health of the planet and human health are intimately linked and putting public money into climate-wrecking fossil fuels such as gas is one road map we don’t want to ...
New report reveals the health costs of coal-fired power stations
September 16, 2020 - Australia’s power stations are located near regional towns such as Morwell, Victoria, Muswellbrook, New South Wales, and Gladstone, Queensland, or in rural areas well away from cities, writes Dr Ben ...
The Driven: Electric buses and trains are the answer, not more cars
September 9, 2020 - COVID-19 has infected and killed over 500 people in Australia and impacted thousands more. Dr Graeme McLeay and A/Prof Vicki Kotsirilos AM state that there is, however, another silent and ...
Eco anxiety as the earth continues to heat
August 6, 2020 - Dr Lucy Watt writes “I am an “eco-worrier”. I worry about the environmental nightmare that climate change has in store for us, our children and their children.” While reading the ...
Newcastle Herald: Clean air should be a right not a dirty secret
July 27, 2020 - The summer’s bushfires blanketed Australia’s east coast with thick smoke, writes Dr Bob Vickers. But even when we don’t have bushfires, Australians are still being exposed to harmful air pollution ...
Canberra Times: Climate change is the next health crisis we face
July 8, 2020 - Covid-19 has its challenges, especially in Victoria at the moment. Dr Beau Frigault writes that generally, though, Australia relative to other parts of the world has managed the pandemic well. ...
Independent Australia: The madness of a gas-led recovery and what you can do about it
June 29, 2020 - Australia is particularly vulnerable to some of the worst impacts of climate change with extreme heat, drought, drying rivers, coastal erosion and changing patterns of disease– threatening health, livelihoods and ...
Open Forum: When our love of place gets swallowed by bushfires
June 24, 2020 - Like many Australians, this summer’s horrific fires had a profound impact on Dr Dimity Williams. Not only did she experience angst about the fires in Victoria burning her ‘happy place’ ...