The photo above shows that a plume of smoke from a wood heater in Canberra can be trapped by the inversion and cover a large area with toxic pollution.  

Why are a minority of ACT residents using wood heaters allowed to impose intense levels of air pollution on our community? Wood heaters produce more than two thirds of Canberra's particle air pollution. These particles are so small they can get deep into the lungs and bloodstream and impact on our health.

Exposure to air pollution from wood heaters is a cause of health problems at all stages of life. It has been linked to still birth, degraded cognitive development in children, asthma, leukemia, other cancers, strokes and dementia. Those most affected are the young, whose
lungs are still developing, the elderly and those who live with a pre-existing heart or lung condition.

For decades, the ACT Government has acknowledged that wood heaters are a serious public health and environmental issue, but has failed to respond adequately to address the problem and protect public health.

We call on the ACT Government to take decisive action to tackle this problem, including setting a date by which the use of wood heaters will be phased out in all suburban areas of Canberra, thereby extending the existing wood smoke free zones already in place in the Molonglo Valley, Dunlop and East O'Malley.

In the interim, we call on the ACT Government to:

• Honour the 2020 election promise to develop a health-based standard for wood heaters and implement measures to phase out heaters that do not meet that standard.
• Legislate that all wood heaters that do not meet a new health-based standard must be disposed of before a property in suburban Canberra can be sold and offer the new buyers financial assistance to replace the wood heater with efficient electric heating.
• Establish a register of all existing wood heaters in the ACT to determine:
  - how many there are
  - how old they are
  - if they meet current emissions standards; and
  - assist in communicating with wood heater owners.
• Extend the prohibition on installing wood heaters that already exists in selected suburbs across all built up areas and new residential developments within the ACT. (This does not apply to rural areas)
• Implement a comprehensive education campaign to inform the community about the health risks and contribution to global warming caused by wood heaters.