Where can we find cleaner air spaces (before the next Black Summer)?  

A family from Manly pulls their child out of school before the end of term and heads to NSW’s South Coast, calling themselves “smoke refugees”. A mother with a newborn flees with her child to Perth indefinitely. These are logical responses when you’re facing ongoing hazardous air pollution. Despite knowing this, and the certainty that it’s not if but when the same – or worse – air pollution from massive bushfires returns to Australia, remarkably little has been done to prepare.

Air pollution from Black Summer caused 429 premature deaths, and thousands of emergency department visits and hospital admissions. That cost $1.95 billion in healthcare alone, even before we consider the far higher dollar cost of lost productivity. Unlike organised responses for flooding, Australian governments don’t yet have a strategy in place to allow people respite from harmful smoke pollution. Early steps overseas suggest what’s possible in Canada and the US. We too need to address this neglected hazard of persistent, harmful air pollution from smoke.

Severe air pollution events from bushfire smoke have seen increasing calls for interventions to protect public health. Governments and health authorities already advise members of the public to relocate to public clean air spaces such as shopping centres, libraries and other public buildings during these periods of unhealthy air quality events. However, research on the effectiveness of these spaces and other potential interventions for vulnerable groups is lacking. Large urban shopping centres possess many key technical features and amenities required to provide respite from smoke. However, research is needed to confirm their effectiveness and feasibility as safe havens.

This presentation explores the feasibility of shopping centres as safe havens during periods of harmful air pollution due to bushfires or hazard reduction burns. We assess facilities’ indoor air quality during times of bushfire smoke air pollution and explore the limitations of shopping centres as safe havens, with reference to key vulnerable groups.