The current state of sustainable healthcare in Australia

Krista Verlis; Rebecca Haddock; Alexandra Barratt

doi:10.1071/AH24065

RESEARCH ARTICLE (Open Access)

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The current state of sustainable healthcare in Australia

Krista Verlis

^A ^B ^D ^* , Rebecca Haddock ^C ^D and Alexandra Barratt ^A ^B ^D

+ Author Affiliations

- Author Affiliations

^A Sydney School of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Edward Ford Building A27, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia.

^B Wiser Healthcare Research Collaboration, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia.

^C Australian Healthcare and Hospitals Association, Canberra, ACT, Australia.

^D Healthy Environment And Lives (HEAL) Network, Canberra, ACT, Australia.

^* Correspondence to: krista.verlis@sydney.edu.au

Australian Health Review https://doi.org/10.1071/AH24065

Submitted: 21 March 2024 Accepted: 12 July 2024 Published: 6 August 2024

© 2024 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing on behalf of AHHA. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND)

Abstract

Objective

To provide the first document map of sustainability and decarbonisation actions across the Australian healthcare sector, as reported in publicly available documents online, and to identify gaps in actions.

Methods

Healthcare providers were identified across all state and territories. Structured Google searches between August and December 2022 were followed by document searches. Updates were undertaken, most recently in December 2023. Targeted documents included position statements, strategies, and reports. Key points from these documents pertaining to sustainability and/or decarbonisation were extracted and descriptively analysed.

Results

A total of 294 documents were included, mostly focused on power generation, transport, building design, and circular procurement/waste pathways. In contrast, relatively few plans for decarbonisation of clinical care were identified (n = 42). National and two state governments (New South Wales, Western Australia) have established healthcare sustainability and decarbonisation units, and two further states have publicly committed to doing so (Queensland, Tasmania). However, these documents generally reported separate, siloed actions. While attempts were made to make this review comprehensive, some documents may have been missed or are only available inside an organisation, and new actions will continue to emerge.

Conclusion

Broad sustainability plans have been developed by many healthcare providers; however, to achieve net zero, decarbonising of clinical practices is also needed, and this is where the least action is currently occurring. To decarbonise clinical care, the sector needs to come together in a more coordinated way.

Keywords: climate change, clinical care, decarbonisation, green care, health care, health systems, hospital, low carbon, net zero.

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