Joint submission—A national strategy for indoor air quality
2026–27 Pre-Budget joint submission for a national strategy for indoor air quality made by the following organisations:
- Australian Academy of Science
- Air Club
- The Australasian Faculty of Occupational and Environmental Medicine and the Australasian Faculty of Public Health Medicine, of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians
- Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences
- Burnet Institute
- Centre for Safe Air
- Heart Foundation
- Lung Foundation Australia
- Research Australia
- The Safer Air Project
- Thrive
In the 2026-27 budget, we call on the Australian Government to commit to a strategic policy platform to achieve healthy indoor air and invest $3.5 million over two years to:
- develop a national indoor air quality strategy
- establish a multidisciplinary advisory council on indoor air quality.
The advisory council would oversee the development and implementation of a national strategy to achieve the following priorities:
- Establish enforceable indoor air quality performance standards in public buildings. We recommend a three-phase approach, leveraging Australia’s successful workplace health and safety framework that enables Commonwealth leadership and state and territory alignment. The first phase would require indoor air quality monitoring in all workplaces. The second phase introduces a workplace reporting standard, mandating specific parameters to be measured and reported. The final phase would legislate standards for all public buildings, requiring selected parameters to be monitored and controlled within designated safe levels. The final phase would require building operators to implement solutions to improve indoor air quality when it does not meet the standards.
- Launch a national public awareness and education campaign for indoor air quality. This campaign should uplift awareness of indoor air pollutants, including airborne pathogens (viruses, mould and bacteria) and bushfire smoke, and the benefits of improving indoor air quality. Education is a vital complement to the implementation of standards to ensure that required measures are effectively adopted by building owners, operators and occupants, and understood and supported by the Australian community at large.
