Climate change is not just an environmental issue; it is a profound public health emergency. The impacts can already be felt in Australia — from the psychological trauma of bushfires and floods to the spread of infectious diseases, worsening air quality, and threats to food security. Yet while the science is clear, our legal system is struggling to keep pace.
Associate Professor Belinda Reeve, Director of Sydney Health Law, is a leading expert on how public health law can be used as a powerful tool to confront this crisis.
Her recent research, including a chapter in Becoming a Climate Conscious Lawyer (co-authored with Professor Belinda Bennett, Dean of the School of Law and Justice at the University of Newcastle) explores how Australia’s existing public health legislation could be harnessed to protect communities in the face of escalating climate risks.
A fragmented legal response
Australia’s public health laws are state and territory-based, and their variation creates a fragmented response to what is undeniably a national and global crisis.
By systematically analysing current legislation, her research reveals both opportunities and gaps. While many public health acts contain broad objectives, guiding principles and emergency powers, they rarely address climate change explicitly.
This leaves government officials without a clear framework for tackling health threats driven by rising temperatures, extreme weather events or ecological disruption.
“Climate change is too often treated only as an environmental or economic issue. My work shows that it must also be understood as a core public health challenge — and that our laws need to catch up.”
While existing public health laws were not designed with climate change in mind, they contain untapped potential.
Associate Professor Belinda Reeve
Towards a climate-conscious legal system
Associate Professor Reeve’s work goes beyond critique by offering a roadmap for reform.
By examining the objectives, principles and powers embedded in existing acts, she highlights where innovation is possible and where urgent reform is required.
“While existing public health laws were not designed with climate change in mind, they contain untapped potential,” Associate Professor Reeve explained.
She argues for the creation of “climate-conscious” public health legislation: laws that explicitly recognise climate change as a determinant of health, give governments clear authority to act, and ensure that policies focus on resilience, equity and protection for vulnerable groups.
“Strong public health laws have always been central to protecting communities in times of crisis,” she said.
“As climate change intensifies, we need a legal system that is equipped to safeguard the health and wellbeing of all Australians for generations to come.”
In positioning climate change as a pressing public health issue, Associate Professor Reeve’s research highlights the vital role of law in shaping not only environmental outcomes but also the health and resilience of society as a whole.
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