Back

Health professionals in Canberra to call for action on summer of anxiety

Doctors for the Environment

EMBARGOED UNTIL TUESDAY 28 OCTOBER 2025

 

As Australia braces for a brutal summer, leading doctors will join Parliamentary Friends of Climate Action at Parliament House next Tuesday to warn that worsening climate change is driving a mental health crisis — and will call for mental health to be front and centre in Australia’s climate and health policies.

The serious climate impacts that Australians are already experiencing include:

• October heat records being broken in several states already 

• Algal bloom in South Australia

• Drought in regional Victoria 

• High insurance premiums for increased flood risk, with one in six homes at risk of flooding today.

 

Since the release of Doctors for the Environment Australia’s How climate affects mental health in Australia report earlier this year, DEA will launch an updated version showing new evidence that climate change is already harming Australians’ mental health, with impacts projected to become severe by 2050. 

 

Our leaders can reduce climate distress by showing meaningful action to protect people from heat and extreme weather now, and by rejecting new and extended fossil fuel projects.

 

The event will be hosted by Parliamentary Friends of Climate Action which is co-chaired  by Zali Steggall MP, Jerome Laxale, MP, and Senator Maria Kovacic. 

 

Dr Kate Wylie, GP and Executive Director of DEA

“Our changing climate is making both our bodies and minds sicker. Doctors see the clear links between climate change, physical illness, and mental health. Conditions like asthma and heart disease — both exacerbated by rising temperatures and pollution — are closely tied to anxiety and depression. 

 

“Climate change is putting mothers and children at risk in ways that have lifelong consequences. Complications during pregnancy, including pregnancy loss, premature births and low birth weight are devastating. And the rates of children who are born prematurely or with low birth weight have higher rates of mental disorders as well as those of the developing brain and nervous system. 

 

“Even witnessing a parent in danger during a disaster can cause PTSD in children. The effects can last well into adulthood.”

 

Dr Cybele Dey, Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist

“Hotter days are linked with more suicides, more domestic violence and more mental health emergencies. In Australia, even mild heat has been shown to increase suicidal distress among young people, with more presenting to Emergency Departments the hotter it becomes. With suicide the leading cause of death for 15-44 year olds -we need to act to prevent suicidal behaviour by reducing heat exposure now and address the underlying driver, fossil fuels, to save lives into the future.

 

“People in rural and remote areas, especially farmers, are particularly vulnerable as they face both more extreme weather and limited access to care. We need to recognise that climate adaptation is mental health prevention — safe, cool homes, trustworthy information on staying healthy and safe and local mental health care for the long term can save lives.”

 

“Extreme weather can disrupt community mental health services. As healthcare professionals, we see increased mental health emergency department presentations and hospital admissions with hotter weather, which increase as the heat increases, especially when high temperatures are combined with humidity.”

 

Who will attend?

Zali Steggall MP; Jerome Laxale MP; Maria Kovacic, Senator

Dr Kate Wylie, GP and DEA Executive Director; Dr Cybele Dey, Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist; Dr Matthew Barton, Psychiatrist; Dr Pramudie Gunaratne, current Chair of the NSW Branch of Psychiatrists: A/Prof Fiona Charlson, University of Queensland’s Institute for Social Science Research (ISSR) and a Principal Research Fellow at the Queensland Centre for Mental Health Research (QCMHR; Prof Susan Rees, Prof Deborah Lupton, Prof Sarah Perkins-Kilpatrick (author of paper establishing measurement of human health harms from an Australian fossil fuel project); Georgia Monaghan (Ecomind), Dr Charles Le Feuvre (Psychology for a Safe Climate); Dr John Van Der Kallen; Prof Kay Wilhelm; Dr Conny Harris; Dr Michael Dudley; Dr Elizabeth Moore, Past president RANZCP, past ACT DIrector of Mental Health; Dr Marjorie Cross; Prof Steve Robson, ANU, Former AMA President

 

- END -

 

About DEA

Doctors for the Environment Australia is the leading medical voice on health and climate.

We work with communities and health professionals to respond to the health effects of climate change through practical support, education, and by encouraging strong government action to reduce pollution.

Contact details:

Please contact DEA’s Media and Communications Lead, Carmela Ferraro, on 0410 703 074 and [email protected]