Category: Take Action
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How mutual aid can help create more heat-resilient communities
We know from our work that hostile infrastructure and rising energy bills are making people sick in the heat. We also know that communities have the knowledge, creativity and collective power to come up with solutions that work for them. Mutual aid is a practice that uses collective care and our own skills and knowledge…
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Renters across NSW told us that their homes are unsafe in extreme heat. This year, we had the opportunity to change that
Renters are baking in dangerously hot homes every summer, and it’s getting worse. Climate change means hotter summers and longer, hotter and more frequent heatwaves. This is bad news for everyone, but especially renters, who are more likely to live in poorly built, low energy efficient homes with no power to make changes to the…
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Event Recap: Heat and Disability Symposium
On the 26th of May Sweltering Cities hosted our first Heat and Disability Symposium, bringing together more than 120 people with lived experience of disability, researchers, advocates, and policy makers from across Australia to discuss how extreme heat impacts disabled communities. This event was run in cooperation with Writer and Disability Advocate El Gibbs, and…
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Data Centres, AI, Urban Heat, and Community Action comes together in Western Sydney
We are witnessing a data centre boom all across the globe and increasingly in Australia. Driven by growing demand for AI and digital services, data centres rely on heavy infrastructure and energy-intensive cooling systems. They attract billion-dollar global investment and in NSW, are being moved quickly through planning pipelines. This process has left limited clarity…
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Cool Walks Toolkit: Released Today
Turning local knowledge into cooler, fairer streets As Australian summers become longer and more intense, the way our neighbourhoods are designed is increasingly shaping how safe and comfortable they are to live in. This week, Sweltering Cities is releasing a new resource to help communities take action: the Cool Walks Toolkit. Developed in collaboration with…
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VIDEO: Hot City, Cool People
An extreme heat awareness event – Parramatta, Sydney Summers in Sydney are getting longer, hotter and more extreme. On 5 Feb 2026, we filled Parramatta Town Hall in Western Sydney for our biggest in person event yet Hot City, Cool People to mark Extreme Heat Awareness Day. Extreme Heat Awareness Day is dedicated to having…
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Extreme Heat Awareness Day 2026: Here’s how it went
On February 4th 2026, we marked the second Extreme Heat Awareness Day. It was the biggest ever national action on heat in Australia, and it happened because of people like you. Launched by Sweltering Cities and the Australian Red Cross, Extreme Heat Awareness Day brings people together for a powerful national conversation about the growing impacts…
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ACTION AT ORIGIN AGM: Energy debt going up as profits climb
Origin AGM action, Sydney, 15 October 2025 Sweltering Cities is part of the Stop the Bill Shock campaign alongside our partners the Antipoverty Centre and Parents for Climate. The Stop the Bill Shock coalition was outside the Origin AGM in Sydney on Oct 15 to call for the company to: Origin Energy has reported more…
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Barbara, a Perth local, reflects on living and planning in the heat
As Perth braces for another long summer, many of us are already thinking about how to stay cool. At Sweltering Cities, we’re hearing from people across WA who are noticing how much harder it’s getting to escape the heat. For Barbara Pedersen, a retired environmental planner living in inner-city Perth, the summer heat is…
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NSW Budget analysis and Net Zero Commission open for comments: Share your thoughts on extreme heat initiatives!
Scroll down for our hot takeaways from the 2025/26 NSW Budget (spoiler: we aren’t thrilled). The Net Zero Commission provides independent expert advice to the NSW Government in transitioning to a net zero economy. The commission is responsible for reviewing the climate actions currently being undertaken by the NSW Government and identifying recommendations to make…
