Clean air is essential for human health and environmental wellbeing, yet air pollution remains a challenge in many Australian communities. Impact Priority 4 (IP4) provides research, tools and practical solutions to help policymakers, councils and communities improve air quality and reduce exposure to harmful pollutants.
Our research is structured around four key sub-projects:
Understanding and addressing the impacts of landscape fire smoke on Indigenous communities.
Indigenous communities are disproportionately affected by air pollution from bushfires, cultural burns, and household smoke exposure. Understanding how smoke affects these communities and identifying culturally appropriate solutions is essential for improving health outcomes.
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Learn more about our research across Australia:
Map: Indigenous air quality, asthma and Indigenous health research
Public health messaging during landscape fire smoke events (June 2022)
Investigating how climate policies and emissions reduction strategies affect future air pollution.
As Australia transitions to a low-emissions future, changes in energy use, transport, and industry will influence air quality. Understanding these interactions is critical to ensuring climate policies also improve public health.
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Quantifying natural emissions and their impacts on air quality in a 2050s Australia (Mar 2025)
Developing and testing interventions to reduce wood heater emissions.
Wood heaters remain a significant source of air pollution, particularly in colder regions. Despite existing regulations, they continue to contribute to high levels of fine particulate pollution (PM2.5), impacting public health. New solutions are needed to address this issue effectively.
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Report: Woodsmoke interventions and evaluations in three Australian communities (Sept 2025)
Assessing the effectiveness of air quality interventions in community settings.
During extreme air pollution events, such as bushfires, safe indoor spaces can help protect vulnerable populations. Low-cost sensors also provide an opportunity to monitor local air quality and identify pollution hotspots. This project evaluates the effectiveness of interventions.
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Air quality monitor selection online tool
Report: Low-cost sensor networks and interventions to reduce exposure to air pollution (July 2025)
Local government air quality sensor fact sheet
Community groups air quality sensor fact sheet
Households air quality sensor fact sheet
Schools air quality sensor fact sheet
Researchers air quality sensor fact sheet
Paper: Demonstrating the most effective interventions to improve classroom air quality (Aug 2023)
Developing a real-world testing protocol for evaluating particulate and greenhouse gas emissions from Australian wood heaters.
The testing protocol used in current Australian and New Zealand Standards (AS/NZS4012-4013) does not reflect typical wood heater operations in a household and, as a result, grossly underestimates emissions that occur when the appliances are used after sale (Johnston et al., 2023).
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Australia must develop its own updated testing methods to update testing protocols due to the dominant fire fuel being Eucalypt hardwoods. Emissions and efficiency testing of wood heaters was undertaken to inform the development of a new real-world testing protocol. Implementation with appropriate independent governance and auditing, and enforcement will provide an opportunity for innovation and reform in wood heater design. This supports vastly improved air quality and community health and enables Australians to benefit from existing and new low-emissions technologies.
