Future Bendigo: Keeping cool and healthy linked to cost of living

"In many ways, climate change is a cost-of-living issue," said Dr Cybele Dey, a child and adolescent psychiatrist and co-chair of the Doctors for the Environment Australia Mental Health Special Interest Group.

With average night temperatures rising faster than those during the day, people who are unable to get a rest from the heat - those who are sleeping rough, or cannot cool their home - and have pre-existing conditions, face compounding disadvantage, Dr Dey said,

Creeping impacts on physical and mental health loom as a significant public health threat, experts warn, and Greater Bendigo's population profile reveals it faces some significant localised risks.

Recently released Australian Bureau of Statistics data paints a picture of a socio-economic landscape vulnerable to climate impacts even before the two degrees annual rise in regional temperatures to 22.5 degrees Celsius by 2050, or 25.3 by 2090, predicted by CSIRO modelling.

The Greater Bendigo population is older, particularly in the 65-74 years bracket, and aging; sicker, recording higher than average rates of long-term disease across all of 10 specified conditions; and poorer, with average household income of $1448 compared to Victorian average $1759.

FUTURE BENDIGO

The very old and very young have a "potentially longer chronic risk associated with those stresses in the environment", says Dr Bruce Bolam, director of Loddon Mallee Public Health Unit, which includes the Bendigo region.

The temperature extremes people are exposed to will be determined by whether their households have cooling systems they can afford to run, or good insulation.

"People who are in stable accommodation and high-quality accommodation are at a lower risk than those in lower quality or in more housing vulnerable situations," he says.

"We need to think about the direct impacts [of climate extremes] on individuals and families," he says - and these include broader, long-term health impacts.

The number of people with mental health conditions in the municipality is notably higher than the Victorian average - 12.6 per cent (15,295 people) versus 8.8 percent.

In 2022, the World Health Organisation identified mental health as a priority for climate change action, stating that global warming exacerbates social and environmental risk factors for mental health, such as strained social relationships and loss of job or income.

This can lead to emotional distress, the development of new mental health conditions and worsening symptoms for people already living with these conditions.

Professor Lauren Rickards, director of La Trobe University's Climate Adaptation Lab, says Bendigo is recognised as a leader in climate change adaptation.

Bendigo Sustainability Group's Giving Power crowdfunding campaign, which retrofits solar panels on low-income households, as a powerful example of community-based action.

The group, previously involved in outfitting council-owned buildings with solar panels, has raised over $49,000 for its current campaign since April.

Another proactive initiative is the City of Bendigo's tree planting strategy, which targets urban heat islands - areas with little vegetation and lots of hard surfaces where conditions trap and radiate heat.

One such residential street in Epsom, in Bendigo's north, recorded 47.2 degrees on a 32-degree day in 2017.

By contrast, tree-lined streets are typically cooler, even on days over 40 degrees.

In 2018, the City of Greater Bendigo and partner agencies identified hot spots in neighborhoods of high social vulnerability across the city, using this information to inform planting programs.