To the Hon. Catherine King MP

Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government

Dear Minister King,

We write to you as concerned parents, because the evidence is clear: truck pollution is harming our children, and the federal government has the power to act.

New research, authored by leading Australian academics has quantified what communities living on freight corridors have known for years. 

Heavy vehicle exhaust emissions are causing preventable deaths and unnecessary illness. The annual health cost exceeds $6.8 billion - borne by patients, taxpayers, and workers.

Our children are the most vulnerable. They breathe faster. Their bodies are still developing. 

• One in six schools and childcare centres across Australia’s capital cities are close enough to busy roads to raise serious health risks. 
• Nearly 9% of new childhood asthma cases in our region are linked to traffic pollution, and heavy vehicles are responsible for a quarter of that pollution. 
• Pollution at one approved childcare centre was equivalent to children inhaling the smoke from 8.4 cigarettes a day.

This is a national problem. Freight corridors run through suburban streets in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide. Parents in every capital city raise their kids in neighbourhoods, and send their children to schools where the air they breathe is making them sick and affecting their development.

Minister, this year your government will revise the Heavy Vehicle National Law. We urge you to use this opportunity to protect Australian children. Specifically, we call on you to:

1. Strengthen emissions standards for heavy vehicles. Make CO2 emissions part of our Heavy Vehicle Emissions Standards to accelerate the shift towards zero emissions trucks. 
2. Support truck drivers and small businesses to accelerate the transition. 92% of trucking businesses are small operators. They need help with the upfront costs of switching to zero-emission trucks, and they need regulatory barriers like weight and access limits reformed so that cleaner, heavier electric trucks can operate on our roads. 
3. Protect children from truck pollution now. Establish buffer zones between freight corridors and schools, childcare centres and playgrounds. Fund mitigation in high-risk areas, including green barriers and air filtration systems for schools on freight routes.

We ask you to make children’s health part of the equation when you reform the Heavy Vehicle National Law this year. Our kids cannot wait.

Yours sincerely,

Parents for Climate

On behalf of parents, carers and grandparents across Australia

Want to help keep the air cleaner around your school or childcare centre?

Sign up as a Clean Air Rep and we will email you with a link to simple, ready-to-use resources to get you started.

Every day, cars sit with engines running while parked - this is called idling. It might seem harmless, but idling creates concentrated pollution where children and families gather, especially at schools and childcare drop-off zones.

This pollution can affect developing lungs, hearts, and brains, increasing the risk of asthma and other health problems.

By turning engines off whenever it’s safe, we can reduce unnecessary exposure and keep our air cleaner and healthier.

Every child deserves to breathe clean air — to play, learn and grow without pollution harming their lungs or their future.

But right now, air pollution from traffic, gas, and coal is putting our children’s health at risk. From asthma flare-ups to long-term impacts on brain development and heart health, poor air quality is silently damaging the next generation.

Children are more vulnerable. They breathe faster, spend more time outdoors, and their small lungs are still growing. Parents, carers, grandparents and educators across Australia are standing together to say: enough is enough.

We’re calling on all levels of government, federal, state and local, to take urgent action to protect children from air pollution by cleaning up transport, phasing out gas and coal pollution, and taking strong, coordinated steps to make the air around every child cleaner and safer.

Add your name to show your support for clean air for every child, everywhere.

Together, we can create cleaner, healthier communities for our kids - today and for the future.

The government’s own National Climate Risk Assessment confirms what parents across Australia already know: climate change is putting our kids and communities in danger.

As parents, we don’t take chances with our kids safety - whether it’s buckling a seatbelt, fitting a car seat, or being sun smart, we act on the best advice. We expect our government to do the same. That means shaping climate policy with science, not politics, and committing to net zero by 2035 with strong pollution cuts this decade. Anything less puts our kids' future at risk.

Update: We raised our voices and they backed down!

After Parents for Climate spoke out in the media and collected hundreds of petition signatures, the committee has reversed its decision to delay the report until July, and instead released it on March 31.

See our media release here. 

Australian families are being left in the dark.

The Senate inquiry into household electrification promised answers on how switching to clean energy can cut power bills and keep families safe. But despite clear evidence that electrifying homes can save households up to $1,000 a year, the final report is being delayed until after the federal election.

A cost of living crisis is no time to delay solutions. Later is too late.

We call on the Senate Economics References Committee and chair Senator Andrew Bragg to release the Household Electrification Report immediately. Families have the right to know how clean energy can reduce living costs, improve home safety during extreme weather, and create healthier spaces for our kids.

Every day this report is stalled is another day families are left paying more.

🔆 Sign now to demand transparency and solutions that put Australian families first.

As parents, we’d do anything for our kids. We promise to protect them, guide them, and give them every chance at a safe, happy future. That’s why we’re coming together to take action on climate change.

Australia is home to 12.5 million parents — that’s 2 in 3 voters. When we raise our voices together, we can be a powerful force for change.

Make a pinky promise for our kids' climate

The Parent Pledge is a personal commitment to speak up, take action, and push for climate ambition — not just at election time, but every day. It’s a way to show candidates, communities, and each other: parents are paying attention, and we’re not backing down.

We’re calling on all Australian Parliamentarians to enshrine their duty of care to protect young and future generations in law.

Building on our 2022 campaign, urging the current and former environment ministers to uphold their duty of care, we are expanding our appeal to all members and senators. And this is a critical moment!

Independent Senator David Pocock is introducing a private member’s bill to call for changes to the Climate Change Act to force government to consider the health and well being of young and future generations when making decisions about projects that impact the climate. As parents concerned about their children’s climate, we strongly support this bill.

Our love for our children is above politics. Add your support. And let’s ensure our kids are safe from climate harm caused by decisions today.

Dear Federal Parliamentarians,

 

We ask that you support the Climate Change Amendment (Duty of Care and Intergenerational Equity) Bill 2023, and to enshrine a duty of care to protect the health and wellbeing of young and future Australians in government decision making on projects that could significantly increase greenhouse gas emissions.

 

With our sincere support, encouragement and hope for the future our kids will inherit. Our kids and their families are counting on you.

 

Australian parents, grandparents, carers and family members.

 

Energy costs are an increasing burden and too many schools and early childhood centres are missing out on the benefits of bill-busting clean energy installations.

Solar and batteries for all schools and childcare centres can save schools money, reduce childcare costs, and employ thousands of people - it’s a win-win-win.

This is Australia’s largest clean energy proposal that will benefit every community in the country.

But it won’t happen without our support. We need to build an unstoppable wave of positive support for schools and early learning powered by clean energy. Add you name to the letter to state and federal leaders to show your support.

Let’s Solar Our Learning, together!

Solar Our Learning will:

• Slash school and early childhood centre energy bills, freeing up more funds for learning resources and childcare places
• Save large schools $114,000 in energy bills per year, small schools $12,700 per year and $12,400 - $14,600 per year for early childhood centres
• Protect schools and early childhood centres from future energy price rises, reducing financial pressures on services and parents alike
• Create at least 6,870 renewable energy jobs in all regions of Australia.
• Save millions of tonnes of carbon emissions per year.

Want to find out more? Check out the main Solar Our Learning campaign page for more information

Charlie is a 25+ year veteran of the technology industry covering business leadership, VC investing, strategic consulting, marketing and product management, and developing, coaching and mentoring high performance teams. He’s held leadership roles at Wiise, Salesforce, Microsoft and Dropbox. Charlie has a highly entrepreneurial, team-focussed spirit - "do what it takes to grow the business". Motivated to help make a positive impact on Australian society with respect to climate action, Charlie is the father of three climate-conscious high schoolers, and enjoys mountaineering, skiing, sailing and even marathon running! Connect with Charlie on LinkedIn. 

Parents for Climate is Australia’s leading organisation to engage, organise and empower parents, carers, families and everyone who cares about kids, to advocate for climate action in their communities, in the media and to politicians and businesses.

We're a small, dedicated team of staff, volunteers and pro-bono experts who together make an outsized impact to build the public and political will to act on climate! 

Current opportunities are listed below, with a link to the position description including contact details for inquiries.  

Staff (paid) opportunities:

• Digital Strategist - Remote / Work from Home - Applications close: 5:00 PM AEST, 30th Jun 2026
• Part time Community Organiser - Western Sydney -  Applications assessed on a rolling basis - please apply ASAP

Board (pro-bono) opportunities: 

To express your interest in future opportunities, please contact [email protected] with the subject line 'board position expression of interest'. An indication of the role and the skills we seek can be found here and is subject to variation as our board composition changes over time. 

Volunteering opportunities:

• Community Connector (Volunteer) - applications considered on a rolling basis.
• Social Media Content Curator - online (Volunteer) - applications considered on a rolling basis.

Follow us on LinkedIn to find out first about future opportunities.

Parents for Climate was built from the ground up by concerned parents like you, volunteering their time to ensure a safer future for our children.

We are solutions-focused and non-partisan, with the mission of influencing government and business to take more action on climate.

Our volunteers are actively engaged in a range of activities that support national and local campaigns and are supporting the organisation in creating a parent powered movement for positive climate action in Australia.

Our current opportunities to volunteer include:

• Join a local group - find your nearest group
• Start up a local group in your community
• Join the policy and submissions team
• Join the Social media team
• Become a media spokesperson
  
• Become a Community Activator
• Other Volunteer recruitment positions can be found here

Click on the links above to find out more, or register your interest for a role in the fields provided.

If you would like to find out more contact [email protected]

Together we are stronger as we work together for a safe climate where our kids can thrive.