Following the successful launch of the Heat Smart City Plan in December 2024, members of the Greater Sydney Heat Taskforce have been busy working towards building heat resilience in our city.

WSROC President, Councillor Brad Bunting, said: “While there is more work to be done setting up formal governance and implementation for the City Plan, Taskforce members have not wasted any time in getting started on areas of the Plan they have carriage over.”

Actions include:

• NSW Government has established an interagency working group on urban heat.
• NSW Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure has supported recommendations from the Inquiry into the Planning System and Climate Change including updates to planning controls and National Construction Code.
• Committee for Sydney has published a report outlining the economic impacts of extreme heat - Burning Money
• Endeavour Energy and Ausgrid (via Energy Charter) are trialing a new energy outage awareness program - Better Together
• The State Emergency Management Committee have endorsed a new Heatwave Emergency Subplan, appointing NSW Ambulance as Combat Agency.
• NSW Health has worked with partners to update their Beat the Heat website and community messaging resources.
• The Powerhouse Museum launched an extreme heat program for Western Sydney high school students.
• Australian Red Cross and Sweltering Cities launched Australia’s first Extreme Heat Awareness Day on 5 February.
• Western Sydney University and Doctors for the Environment hosted a community forum to discuss the City Plan and heat.

“This is an amazing amount of work in just a short period of time, and we congratulate our Taskforce partners on their commitment to building heat resilience,” said Councillor Bunting.

Over the course of 2025, WSROC and Resilient Sydney will be seeking funding opportunities for the Plan’s local government-led initiatives, including the expansion of tools for planning, risk assessment and heatwave management, as well as initiatives focused on professional development and community engagement.