• Environment
• Climate change
• Global warming

Opinion

By Amanda McKenzie

January 11, 2026 — 1.30pm

I’m writing this as the CEO of the Climate Council, and also as a mum of two young children. Every time the temperature is forecast to soar into the high 30s and even 40s, the same question hits: how do I keep my kids safe? Not just comfortable. Safe.

What’s often missed in the national conversation is that extreme heat is already one of Australia’s deadliest hazards. Between 2001-18, nearly 500 heat-related deaths were reported to coroners in Australia. More recently, a study estimated 1009 Australians died due to heatwaves between 2016 and 2019, with Queensland and NSW recording the highest death tolls.

The devastating fires in Victoria on the weekend.Credit: The Age

In recent days, fires have left scenes of devastation across Victoria, with the loss of homes mounting. Meanwhile, large swaths of the country have experienced severe to extreme heat, from Western Australia across South Australia, NSW and Tasmania. Daytime temperatures pushed into the mid to high 40s, with overnight minimums in the mid-20s, offering little relief after dark. Some communities recorded temperatures at least 8C to 16C above average. When nights stay hot, bodies can’t recover, and that’s when the health impacts become most serious.

Extreme heat isn’t just “a hot day”. It isn’t the summer weather Australians grew up expecting. It is a dangerous, escalating threat, supercharged by the continued burning of fossil fuels. Extreme heat also hits the hip pocket. Families pay through higher power bills and rising insurance premiums.

The good news is that Australia is already changing how we power our lives. Renewables are rising, batteries are scaling up and households are electrifying, but we have to move faster and stop making the problem worse.

Loading

Heat doesn’t always leave a dramatic scar on the landscape. It doesn’t always make the nightly news in the same way a cyclone or a catastrophic bushfire does. But it is relentless. It overwhelms the body, especially for babies and young children, older Australians, outdoor workers, people with disability, and anyone without access to cool, safe housing. It can also put healthy people at risk, particularly anyone working or exercising outdoors.

Heat is also brutally unfair. If you live in a well-insulated home with efficient cooling, you can shut the door on the worst of it. If you are in a poorly built rental or a heat-trapping home, you can’t.

And here’s the truth we have to confront: heatwaves are already more frequent, more intense and longer-lasting. Coal, oil and fossil gas are heating the planet, and we are living with the consequences. Next week’s Copernicus annual climate update is likely to reinforce what the last decade has made clear: the world is heating fast, and every fraction of a degree now makes extreme heat more dangerous.

When extreme heat hits, it doesn’t just harm health, it disrupts childhood. School becomes unsafe. Outdoor play becomes impossible. Sleep becomes fractured. Tempers fray. Learning drops.

Loading

Parents for Climate has documented a growing number of school closure days caused by extreme weather, including repeated closures in north Queensland due to extreme heat. They also warn the official lists only tell part of the story. And many schools, frankly, are not equipped. Whether a child can learn safely on a scorching day can come down to whether their classroom has air conditioning, shade, access to water and back-up power. In 2026 Australia, that should not be a lottery.

Summers are getting more extreme, but the solutions are clear and they are already under way. We need to accelerate them. First, stop expanding fossil fuels and rapidly cut climate pollution by accelerating clean energy, electrification and efficiency. Second, make our communities safer through better heat planning, cooler homes, shaded streets, resilient schools, accessible public cooling spaces and stronger emergency preparedness.

That means practical, achievable changes. Better building standards so homes are fit for a hotter Australia. Minimum energy performance standards so renters are not left to swelter. Strong workplace protections when heat becomes dangerous. And an energy system built for reliability in extremes, powered by renewables and storage, not old coal.

Loading

It also means being honest about who is paying. It is not fair that families are carrying the costs while fossil fuel companies keep pushing for more coal and gas. We know how to cut climate pollution and keep the lights on. We just need to move faster.

As a mum, I want my kids to grow up in an Australia where summer still means fun, not fear.

But we won’t get there by treating this as “just another heatwave”. This is climate change, in our streets and schools, in our homes. Extreme heat is already deadly. Fossil fuels are making it worse. And we can change course – if we choose to.

Amanda McKenzie is CEO of the Climate Council.