Australian CDC releases climate resilience guidance for health systems

The Australian Centre for Disease Control (CDC) has released a new suite of national guidance and tools designed to help health system organisations manage climate-related risks. The resources, which include a manual, regional data, and practical planning templates, aim to assist hospitals, aged care providers, and local health networks in strengthening their resilience to extreme weather events.

The guidance addresses how climate hazards—such as heatwaves, floods, bushfires, and cyclones—impact infrastructure, workforce capacity, and supply chains. For instance, heatwaves can increase patient presentations while simultaneously straining hospital cooling systems. The resources provide a step-by-step framework for assessing risks to service delivery and population health.

The planning tools utilize climate scenarios ranging from a ‘middle of the road’ temperature rise of approximately 2.7°C to a ‘reasonable worst-case’ scenario of 3.6°C by the end of the century. Regional climate and health hazard data is included for several areas, including New South Wales, the ACT, the Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, and Western Australia.