Jason Staines writes:
The federal election is now set to take place in May, and while a minority Labor Government is the most likely outcome according to recent polls, the Coalition is still in contention and could form its own minority government with the support of independents and minor parties.
As Australia heads into an election shaped by economic pressures, cost-of-living concerns, and national security debates, an often-overlooked but urgent crisis is unfolding: climate change’s impact on public health.
The devastation caused by ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred in southeast Queensland and northern New South Wales has once again demonstrated the direct and immediate health impacts of extreme weather events.
The cyclone’s aftermath, including flooding, infrastructure damage, and disruptions to medical services, underscores what scientists and health professionals have been warning for years – climate change is not just an environmental issue, it is a health emergency.
In the lead-up to the election, Croakey Health Media approached the Coalition seeking its stance on a range of health policies, including its commitment to climate health initiatives such as the National Health and Climate Strategy (NHCS) and the establishment of a permanent Australian Centre for Disease Control (CDC).
These two policies are viewed by experts as critical to preparing Australia’s healthcare system for the escalating challenges posed by climate change.
So far, beyond an automated acknowledgement from Anne Ruston, Shadow Health and Aged Care Minister, no response has been received to our emails or follow-up phone call. Ted O’Brien MP, the Shadow Minister for Climate Change and Energy was also contacted via two emails.
With climate change already affecting health outcomes, public health experts warn that failing to prioritise climate-health preparedness will have deadly consequences – and the lack of clarity from the Opposition raises concerns about the future of these policies under a potential Peter Dutton-led government.
The Coalition’s past record on climate policy raises significant concerns about whether a Dutton-led government would commit to climate-health initiatives such as the NHCS or a permanent CDC.
During its previous term in office, the Liberal-National Coalition Government repeatedly refused to develop climate and health policies, despite years of advocacy from public health experts.
Groups such as Climate and Health Alliance, the Australian Medical Association (AMA), and the Public Health Association of Australia spent years calling for a national climate health strategy – yet the Coalition never delivered one before they lost office in 2022.
This reluctance to take meaningful climate action was evident in the abolition of Australia’s carbon pricing scheme in 2014, a move widely condemned by economists and climate scientists.
The carbon price, introduced under the Gillard Labor Government, had successfully reduced emissions from electricity generation before the Abbott Government repealed it – making Australia the first country to remove a legislated carbon pricing mechanism.
At the time, then-Prime Minister Tony Abbott declared “Australia is open for business”, but in the decade since, emissions have continued to rise, and climate-related health threats have intensified.
A growing crisis
Australia is already experiencing worsening health outcomes due to climate change.
The increasing frequency and severity of heatwaves, bushfires, floods, and storms is driving up rates of heat stress, respiratory illnesses, infectious diseases, and mental health disorders.
Hospitals are seeing more admissions during extreme weather events, and the strain on emergency services is mounting.
Leading physician and researcher Distinguished Laureate Professor Nick Talley argues that climate change is not just a long-term environmental challenge, it is a public health catastrophe unfolding now.
“We’ve just experienced climate change in action with Cyclone Alfred driven by warmer oceans off the coast of Brisbane and northern New South Wales, and we can expect many more disruptive, severe and deadly climate events across Australia in the years to come,” he told Croakey.
The economic impact of climate-driven disasters is also becoming impossible to ignore.
Insurance premiums for floods and bushfires have skyrocketed, with some communities struggling to secure coverage at all. Talley warns that climate denial and misinformation are actively delaying necessary policy responses, putting both lives and livelihoods at risk.
“Many people don’t seem to recognise global warming is not only a climate crisis, it’s a serious health crisis impacting them now often silently, and will only worsen,” he said.
Despite this, Australia remains without a coordinated national approach to climate and health policy. Public health experts argue that two key policies – the NHCS and CDC – are vital to addressing this crisis, yet both remain underfunded and politically vulnerable.
Under threat
The National Health and Climate Strategy was introduced by the Labor Government in 2023 as Australia’s first national framework for addressing the health impacts of climate change.
The NHCS aims to:
- Strengthen climate resilience across hospitals and healthcare facilities.
- Develop early warning systems for climate-related health threats.
- Improve workforce preparedness for extreme weather events.
- Reduce carbon emissions within the healthcare sector.
Malcolm Baalman, Policy and Advocacy Manager at the Public Health Association of Australia (PHAA), pointed to the urgency of implementing the NHCS, warning that Australia’s preparedness remains inadequate.
“Australia has, so far, done little to address the interaction of climate change with health systems and health outcomes. It is vital that all major parties in the 2025 election campaign commit to the National Health and Climate Strategy, and to making it work in practice,” he told Croakey.
Michelle Isles, CEO of the Climate and Health Alliance (CAHA), said the NHCS was developed with strong sector-wide input and is essential for guiding Australia’s health system through climate adaptation.
“The National Health and Climate Strategy (NHCS) was shaped by Australia’s health leaders and communities and is a critical guide for transformative action for public health outcomes.
“The NHCS prioritises health-led climate action, prescribing evidence-based actions to safeguard public health, reduce economic burdens from climate impacts, and positions Australia as a leader in preparing its health system for the threats of climate change,” she told Croakey.
While the NHCS was welcomed by health and climate experts, it remains significantly underfunded. Experts fear that a change in government could see it deprioritised or scrapped entirely.
Isles warns that failure to fund and implement the NHCS would leave Australia’s healthcare system exposed to the growing risks of climate-related disasters.
“The escalating frequency and intensity of climate-related disasters in Australia are straining the capacity of local health services, risking collapse during large-scale events. A coordinated national response framework is critical to ensure timely support, accelerate community recovery, and mitigate long-term health, psychological, and economic impacts,” she said.
Dr Aletha Ward, Senior Research Fellow at the University of Queensland and a climate health expert, stresses that the NHCS is not just a policy document, but a necessary framework for the survival of Australia’s healthcare system.
“The National Health and Climate Strategy must be a priority, not an afterthought of the Coalition’s policy platform. Australia’s health system is already feeling the strain of climate change. The NHCS…is a crucial blueprint for health system resilience that must be urgently implemented,” she told Croakey.
Ward warns that failure to fully implement and fund the NHCS will result in escalating hospital admissions, worsening chronic disease rates, and a healthcare system crippled by climate shocks.
“The elected government, regardless of what political affiliation, must fund, execute, and expand the NHCS as a matter of urgency – because the next climate disaster is not a question of ‘if’, but ‘when’,” she said.
The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) is also backing implementation of the NHCS.
In a statement, the College’s Climate and Environmental Medicine Specific Interests Chair, Dr Catherine Pendrey, said: “The World Health Organization has called climate change the greatest threat to public health in the 21st Century. This is why we are calling on all political parties to commit to fully fund the implementation of the National Health and Climate Strategy.”
Election promise
The creation of an Australian Centre for Disease Control (CDC) was a major 2022 election promise from Labor. The COVID-19 pandemic exposed weaknesses in Australia’s ability to coordinate national responses to health crises, and a CDC was proposed to:
- Provide expert, centralised public health guidance during outbreaks and disasters.
- Improve pandemic preparedness.
- Strengthen Australia’s response to climate-driven health emergencies.
However, the CDC remains in its interim phase, and a permanent version is not expected until at least 2026. The Public Health Association of Australia (PHAA) has warned that Australia is not prepared for the next pandemic or climate-driven health crisis.
Baalman argues that the COVID-19 pandemic should have been a wake-up call, demonstrating the need for a strong national health response agency.
“The importance of the Centre for Disease Control (CDC) cannot be overstated. COVID-19 demonstrated how much public health systems had been neglected in Australia. State and territory agencies had capacity to act, but there was no national centre with intergovernmental planning and action responsibilities,” he said.
He further warned that without political commitment, Australia remains vulnerable to future health crises.
“This is a critical election issue. The 2025 election should be the moment when Australian political parties commit fully to a strong, well-resourced Australian Centre for Disease Control,” said Baalman.
Despite such warnings, the federal Coalition has not committed to supporting the CDC – raising concerns that its future remains uncertain if the government changes hands in May.
Isles highlights the National Climate Risk Assessment and National Adaptation Plan as vital tools for safeguarding public health, but warns that without dedicated funding, their potential remains limited.
“The newly developed National Climate Risk Assessment and National Adaptation Plans have the potential to be key resources to assist inter-government approaches to safeguard public health. While social determinants of health are the focus in the risk assessment, there is an explicit link between climate impacts and health harm within the identified hazards,” she said.
She further added that a lack of government commitment to climate adaptation planning would have severe long-term consequences for Australians’ health.
“A lack of commitment to this policy agenda and continued delay of adequate resourcing will directly impact the health and wellbeing of Australians, including through premature loss of life and chronic illness.”
Denial and political inaction
Beyond the question of funding and policy commitment, experts are concerned that climate denial and misinformation are influencing political inaction. Talley warns that the US-style politicisation of climate science is already creeping into Australia’s public debate.
“Climate denial now dominates US politics. This is further driven by the President’s public views climate change is all a hoax, let’s ‘drill baby drill’, and yes, happy to destroy the environment for short term economic returns…
“He also derides those calling out the crisis, referring to them as climate lunatics. At the same time, the President labels himself the great environmentalist. Yes, it sounds nuts based on the science, but it’s the current reality. We are not immune here in Australia,” he said.
With ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred bringing record rainfall and devastating communities, conservative commentators have downplayed links between the event and climate change – despite overwhelming scientific evidence. Talley argues that this misinformation is delaying life-saving health policies.
“One day of course when climate change hurts them or their families they may wake up, but it may be too late,” he said.
The devastation caused by ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred has made climate health preparedness a national priority, but the Coalition’s lack of response to Croakey’s questions specifically, or climate change overall, raises concerns about whether it will commit to funding the NHCS, the CDC, and broader climate health policies.
The health experts Croakey has spoken to are clear: these policies are not optional – they are essential to protecting lives. If elected, will the Coalition properly fund the NHCS and CDC, or will these crucial programs be abandoned?
With the election only months away, voters deserve to know whether a Dutton-led Coalition government would take climate health seriously, or continue to ignore the warnings.
Climate change is already affecting health outcomes, emergency services, and healthcare infrastructure. Without urgent bipartisan action, Australia will remain unprepared for the next major climate-driven health emergency.
“Our job as health professionals is to prevent disease and premature death. That is what’s at stake,” Talley said.
Croakey contacted the office of Senator Anne Ruston, Shadow Minister for Health and Aged Care with the following questions:
- Will a Coalition Government support and fund the Australian Centre for Disease Control?
- What will be a Coalition Government’s commitment to National Preventive Health Strategy 2021-2030?
- Will a Coalition Government support implementation of the National Women’s Health Strategy 2020-2030 and the National Women’s Health Advisory Council?
- Will a Coalition Government support women’s reproductive rights and access to abortion services?
- Will a Coalition Government support, implement and fund the National Action Plan for the Health and Wellbeing of LGBTIQA+ People 2025 – 2035?
- Will a Coalition Government support the implementation of the National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children 2022–2032, including an end to all gender-based violence and the needs of LGBTQ+ people and children?
- Will a Coalition Government support implementation and funding for the National Suicide Prevention Strategy 2025-2035?
- Will a Coalition Government commit to supporting Primary Health Networks?
- If so, will a Coalition Government commit that total funding provided to PHNs will be at least indexed on a per capita basis during the next term?
- Will a Coalition Government support and fund the 87 Urgent Care Clinics established by Labor and the additional 50 that have been promised?
- Will a Coalition Government commit that federal funding for public hospitals will increase to 42.5 percent of federal and state funding in line with Labor’s offer?
- The Department of Health and Aged Care is now drawing up an implementation plan for the Scope of Practice and related reviews. Will this work continue under a Coalition Government?
- Will a Coalition Government support the bulk billing incentives as announced by the Albanese Government?
- Will a Coalition Government support MyMedicare?
Croakey also contacted the office of Ted O’Brien MP, the Shadow Minister for Climate Change & Energy with the following questions:
- Will a Coalition Government fund and support ongoing implementation of the National Health and Climate Strategy, and prioritise decarbonisation and improved sustainability of the healthcare sector?
- Will a Coalition Government support and fund the National Climate Risk Assessment and National Adaptation Plan?
See Croakey’s archive of articles on the 2025 federal election and health
