Why extreme heat matters
Extreme heat is Australia’s deadliest natural hazard, causing more fatalities than all other natural hazards combined. Its impacts are often invisible or normalised as “just summer,” but the strain on health, infrastructure, workplaces, and communities can be profound and long-lasting.
The PERC study helps us understand how a summer of extreme heat became disastrous for those at increased risk — and how we can prevent harm moving forward.
What the study found
Through extensive consultation across government, community, emergency services, academia, and industry, several key insights emerged:
Extreme heat is a growing and underestimated risk
Its effects build over time and compound across repeated hot summers.
What we normalise today becomes tomorrow’s danger
Communities “toughing it out” can mask the real and accumulating impacts of heat.
Heat resilience is a systems challenge
Heat affects people and the systems they rely on – housing, transport, workplaces, health services, power networks, and social supports.
Workplaces are at increasing risk
Many Australians work through dangerous heat conditions without adequate protections or reporting mechanisms.
Reducing heat risk is a shared responsibility
It requires coordinated effort from governments, industry, communities, and civil society.
How this work connects to the Urban Climate Resilience Program
The Adelaide PERC study complements the Urban Climate Resilience Program, delivered in partnership with Zurich Australia. Together, we’re helping cities strengthen resilience by combining community-led action with local government engagement.
