Orygen welcomes the recent release of Australia’s first National Health and Climate Strategy earlier this month. It provides a significant step towards recognising and addressing the impacts that climate change will have on the health and wellbeing of Australians.
Orygen provided a submission to the development of the strategy, as well as to the Australian Parliament’s Climate Change Amendment (Duty of Care and Intergenerational Climate Equity) Bill 2023. Both submissions highlighted the need to recognise that young people are at a greater risk of experiencing the impacts of climate change, that climate-related impacts to mental health and wellbeing should remain a key focus, and that the health workforce need more support to be able to identify and respond to the mental health impacts of climate distress.
These submissions build upon Orygen’s focus on addressing the impact of climate change on youth mental health. A recent Orygen-commissioned survey of 1,000 Australians found that strong climate action by government would be the most impactful solution to young people’s climate distress, and that young people wanted their health professionals to provide validating responses to their distress.
Orygen recognises that there are further opportunities to support young people, such as:
- developing a brief intervention for young people’s climate distress;
- ensuring that health and wellbeing impacts are assessed in climate policy and investment; and
- developing climate change media guidelines that safely inform young people while supporting their mental health.
Orygen looks forward to working with government to ensure young people are included in mental health and climate policy, and to prevent and support the mental health impacts of climate change on young Australians.