DEA calls for fossil gas phase-out and no new projects
Doctors for the Environment Australia has called on the Albanese government to phase out fossil gas and rule out new gas developments, arguing the fuel harms health from extraction to household use and through its role in climate change.
The group is launching a report, Gas and its overlooked health risks, on 16 September 2026 in Canberra. It says the report draws together recent national and international evidence on health harms across the gas lifecycle.
According to Doctors for the Environment Australia, gas cooking may account for 12.3% of childhood asthma in Australia, or about one in eight cases. The group also points to studies that found children in homes with gas cooking face a 42% higher risk of current asthma, meaning asthma with symptoms or treatment in the previous 12 months.
The organisation says gas use can expose people to nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, benzene, formaldehyde and fine particles that can be inhaled deep into the lungs. It also links gas extraction and processing with higher risks of cardiac disease, respiratory disease, childhood leukaemia and adverse pregnancy outcomes.
DEA Executive Director and GP Dr Kate Wylie said Australians had been misled by gas industry marketing that described gas as “natural”, “clean” and “safe”. “Our community deserves to know that this narrative is false. Gas is not clean or safe – it can harm our health at every stage of its lifecycle,” Dr Wylie said.
Methane and climate impacts
Gas is mainly methane, and Doctors for the Environment Australia says methane traps more than 80 times as much heat as carbon dioxide over the first 20 years after it reaches the atmosphere. Methane is released across the supply chain, including during extraction, transport and distribution.
The group says climate change is already affecting Australians through more severe heatwaves, bushfires, droughts and storms. It also links warming to worsening air quality, more heat-related deaths, threats to food and water security, changing patterns of infectious disease and rising pressure on GP clinics and emergency departments.
Doctors for the Environment Australia cited devastating flooding in Nepal, deadly heatwaves across the Northern Hemisphere and record-breaking heat in parts of Australia in winter 2026 as recent signs of a worsening climate.
Dr Wylie said the government needed “a clear plan to phase-out this polluting fuel” and support households and businesses to switch to clean energy such as solar and wind.
Parliament House event and speakers
The report launch is scheduled for 10:30 am on Wednesday 16 September 2026 in the Main Committee Room at Australian Parliament House. A press conference and photo opportunity will follow at 11:30 am at the southern wall of Mural Hall.
Special Envoy for Climate Change Adaptation and Resilience Kate Thwaites MP is hosting the launch. Assistant Minister for Climate Change and Energy Josh Wilson MP is due to give remarks.
DEA said about a dozen doctors would join Dr Wylie at the 11:30 am press conference to call for an urgent phase-out of fossil gas.
