Dr Marianne Cannon sees the costs of cold and hot homes in emergency departments every week. With global oil shocks compounding rising power bills, she explains why Australia’s best energy security policy starts at the front door.
As a doctor I see the human cost of energy poverty in emergency departments across Australia. During heatwaves, elderly patients arrive dehydrated because they cannot afford – or in the case of renters, do not have – air conditioning.
In southern states in winter, older Australians go cold rather than run the heater, trading warmth for grocery money. Heat and cold are health issues generated by housing failures.
These are not isolated cases. This is the lived reality of many people in one of the world’s wealthiest nations.
As the Iran conflict threatens global oil supplies and sends energy prices soaring, Australia faces a choice. We can remain at the mercy of volatile international fossil fuel markets, or we can take control of our energy future by making our homes work smarter, not harder.
Households are feeling our dependence on fossil fuels – for heating, cooling, and power – and vulnerability to every geopolitical shock. It’s time we recognised that energy efficiency is good policy. It provides energy security, energy independence, a stable climate, and it’s also a health imperative.
The measures we need to put in place are well known: minimum efficiency standards, large-scale retrofit programs, and transparent energy ratings for homes. Well-insulated, efficient homes improve air quality, maintain stable temperatures in winter and summer, preventing heat-related illnesses, respiratory illnesses, cardiovascular disease, and asthma. They also support mental health by reducing the financial strain of high energy bills. Energy-efficient homes also reduce emissions driving climate change, which in turn increases the intensity and likelihood of heatwaves, floods, and bushfires.
The solutions exist. What’s missing is the political will to implement the changes we need at scale.
Europe has shown us how. Mandatory energy ratings are required at the point of lease or sale, giving tenants and buyers clear and accessible information about expected running costs. Buyers can estimate what it would take to meet better standards. Transparency drives improvement. Standards drive investment.
With rising power bills compounding cost-of-living pressures – now amplified by global oil shocks – there has never been a better time to adopt regulations requiring home retrofitting to meet energy-efficiency standards.
The naysayers will emerge. They always do.
The gas industry will warn of inconvenience and cost. Developers will complain about their margins and costs to consumers. Landlords may threaten rent increases.
But system-wide changes will ensure we’re all better off. Our communities will live in healthier homes, with lower power bills, greater energy security, more skilled jobs in retrofitting industries, reduce our carbon footprint, and provide transparency for buyers and tenants.
These changes are also about a fair go. Without reforms, those most exposed to extreme weather and rising energy costs will remain the least able to afford protection.
Achieving these changes requires us to act in the interests of caring for people. We need courageous bipartisan political support across state, federal, and local governments, and private-sector safeguards and enforcement to be administered.
We’ve come a long way in the last decade. Local councils, state governments, groups of individuals and families have been making cities and towns more liveable, walkable, and breathable. This initiative would reinforce and extend those efforts.
It will require bold leadership and a willingness to drop toxic politics for good ideas. While the world fights over oil, our best defence is to reduce how much we need and to accelerate the necessary shift to renewable energy.
As global instability reminds us how fragile our fossil fuel supply chains are, every well-insulated home is one less family vulnerable to international oil shocks, and every retrofit is an investment in resilience.
It’s a challenge. But it’s a challenge Australian could meet if we pull in the same direction. It will benefit many and make our dwellings healthier in the shorter and longer term.
So what can you do? Start by contacting your state and federal MP. Speak to local councillors. Ask realtors to provide information about energy efficiency if leasing or buying.
Bold leadership is what we need. Are we up for it?