WSROC and Resilient Sydney have met with six NSW Ministers in as many months to discuss delivery of the Heat Smart City Plan, receiving a positive response from all. 

Taskforce Co-Chair, Mr Kerry Robinson said: “Heat is one of the most significant challenges facing Greater Sydney, and one that is rapidly growing.

“The Ministers acknowledged heat as a critical issue for our city, and recognised the impacts of heat on their respective Ministerial portfolios.

“This shows that heat resilience is slowly but surely gaining the recognition and coordination it deserves at the highest levels,” he said.

Launched on December 2024, the Heat Smart City Plan outlines 40 actions to make Sydney more resilient to heat. 

The Plan was developed with input from across the health, planning and design, infrastructure, emergency management, community and corporate sectors, its recommendations spanning over ten NSW Ministerial portfolios, requiring coordination across the government.

WSROC and Resilient Sydney have met with the following Ministers, all of whom have a critical role in the Plan’s implementation:

• The Hon. Janelle Saffin MP, Minister for Recovery and Minister for Small Business,
• The Hon. Penny Sharpe MLC, Minister for Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water,
• The Hon. Paul Scully MP, Minister for Planning and Public Spaces, 
• Office of the Minister for Health, The Hon. Ryan Park MP 
• The Hon. Jihad Dib MP, Minister for Customer Service and Digital Government, Minister for Emergency Services, and Minister for Youth Justice, and
• The Hon. Anoulack Chanthivong MP, Minister for Better Regulation and Fair Trading, Minister for Industry and Trade, Minister for Innovation, Science and Technology, Minister for Building.

Each of the Ministers expressed support for the Plan and its objectives.

The Heat Smart City Plan’s recommendations cover a wide range of actions relating to these Ministers’ portfolios including: 

• Ensuring heat is addressed in the NSW planning system.
• Ensuring new homes and rental properties are designed to protect people and reduce energy bills in extreme heat.
• Ensuring that emergency response protocols for heatwave are developed as our city’s risk increases.
• Ensuring that we are measuring heat impacts to community health to support informed heat resilience investment.
• Reducing emissions to prevent climate change’s exacerbation of extreme heat.
• Ensuring communities are prepared for extreme heat events, including potential disruptions to energy and other infrastructure.

“The Taskforce looks forward to continuing collaboration with all NSW Government Ministers on delivery of the Heat Smart City Plan, to ensure all people in Greater Sydney can survive and thrive in a warming climate and extreme heat events,” said Mr Robinson.

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