Demographic differences in Australia’s local government adaptation planning for health and climate change

Barbara P. F. Davis; Paul J. Beggs; Petra L. Graham

doi:10.1071/PU24028

RESEARCH ARTICLE (Open Access)

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Demographic differences in Australia’s local government adaptation planning for health and climate change

Barbara P. F. Davis ^A ^* , Paul J. Beggs ^A and Petra L. Graham ^B

+ Author Affiliations

- Author Affiliations

^A School of Natural Sciences, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia.

^B School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia.

^* Correspondence to: barbara.davis1@hdr.mq.edu.au

Public Health Research and Practice 35, PU24028 https://doi.org/10.1071/PU24028

Submitted: 10 December 2024 Accepted: 2 June 2025 Published: 25 July 2025

© 2025 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing on behalf of the Sax Institute. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC)

Abstract

Objectives

Adaptation planning is needed at all levels of government to limit the adverse impacts of climate change on public health. This study aims to examine adaptation planning with a health focus at the local government level in Australia.

Methods

All 541 Australian local governments were contacted by email, and their websites were searched to determine which had a climate change adaptation plan. These plans were analysed for their health-word content.

Results

Almost one-quarter (23%, 124/541) of Australian local governments had a climate change adaptation plan. A larger proportion of urban local governments had plans when compared with rural local governments (41% vs 8%, P < 0.001). Local governments with plans had less socioeconomic disadvantage (P < 0.001), and a higher proportion of local governments in the states of Victoria (53%) and Tasmania (48%) had plans when compared with elsewhere (6–29%, P < 0.001). All plans mentioned health-related words, but some words, such as vector and mosquito, were mentioned in less than 50% of plans.

Conclusions

Australia’s local governments differ in adaptation planning for health and climate change, with just under a quarter having produced a plan, and the extent and nature of health content are highly variable.

Keywords: Australia, climate change, climate change adaptation plan, content analysis, engagement, health, impacts, local government.

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