Equity at the Heart: Embedding Equity in Climate-Responsive Public Health

How can we embed an equity-lens in public health responses to our changing climate?

Join leading public health practitioners and community organisations to examine the systemic and policy challenges of responding to extreme heat, smoke exposure, climate-related disasters, and other conditions driven by climate change.

A special guest panel discussion will be followed by an interactive workshop and your chance to get to know our incredible guests and other passionate students. We will explore opportunities for advocacy that advance more socially just approaches to climate adaptation.

Special guests:

Dr Kim Loo is a long-serving GP in Western Sydney with over 35 years’ clinical experience. She is Chair of Doctors for the Environment Australia (NSW) and a passionate advocate for linking health, climate, and environmental justice.

Emma Bacon is the founder and Executive Director of Sweltering Cities, an Australian advocacy organisation focused on extreme heat, climate justice, and equitable, climate-safe cities. She’s passionate about centring lived experience in heat and climate policy.

Dr Ed Jegasothy is an epidemiologist and biostatistician at University of Sydney’s School of Public Health. A graduate of the NSW Health Biostatistics Training Program, Ed has worked across issues from air pollution, perinatal health and temperature exposure, and socio-economic factors related to health outcomes.

Kristin O’Connell is an antipoverty activist and unwaged social policy researcher relying on Centrelink payments to survive. She established the Antipoverty Centre with other welfare recipients to counter problems with politicians, academics and paid advocates making harmful decisions on behalf of people they purport to represent.

Jon Swain is the Manager of Homelessness for the City of Sydney council. A 2024 Churchill Fellow, he focuses on mitigating heat risks for people experiencing homelessness and integrating heat vulnerability into service and policy responses.

Associate Professor Fiona Haigh is an internationally recognised expert in Health Impact Assessment (HIA) and health equity at UNSW’s International Centre for Future Health Systems. Her multidisciplinary research and practice integrate equity into policy, planning, and governance, with a strong focus on embedding health and human rights in decision-making across sectors.

About the organisers

The Advocacy Lab brings a public health lens to societal challenges. Our vision is to build the confidence, capacity and courage of our students to take action for health equity. This event is free for students and is hosted by the UNSW School of Population Health.

This event is in person only. Light refreshments will be provided in the afternoon.