Bringing government, councils, industry, researchers and communities together to build a heat-resilient Greater Sydney.

Extreme heat is Australia’s deadliest natural hazard, with growing impacts on our health, homes, infrastructure, economy and environment.

 

These impacts cut across traditional organisational and government boundaries. Preparing Greater Sydney for a hotter future requires coordinated action across emergency management, health, planning, housing, infrastructure, energy, community services and the private sector.

 

The Greater Sydney Heat Taskforce provides a collaborative framework for this work.

 

Established in 2023, the Taskforce brings together senior leaders and practitioners from local, state and federal government, industry, research and community organisations to coordinate action on heat across Greater Sydney.

 

The Taskforce is facilitated by WSROC and Resilient Sydney and co-chaired by Kerry Robinson OAM, CEO of Blacktown City Council, and Steve Hartley, NSW Reconstruction Authority.

 

From planning to delivery

The Taskforce developed the Greater Sydney Heat Smart City Plan 2025–2030, a five-year roadmap for improving how Greater Sydney prepares for, responds to and adapts to heat.

 

Co-designed across the health, planning and design, infrastructure, emergency management, community and corporate sectors, the Plan identifies six key directions and 40 recommendations for building a heat-resilient city.

 

The Taskforce now provides an ongoing mechanism for organisations to work together to implement the Plan, share progress, identify gaps and barriers, and coordinate action across sectors.

 

The six directions are:

• Heat Smart Decisions – improving collaboration, measurement and monitoring of heat risk.
• Heat Smart Places for People – creating homes, buildings and neighbourhoods that keep people safe in the heat.
• Heat Smart Economies – helping businesses understand and manage heat risk and economic impacts.
• Heat Smart Infrastructure – strengthening the resilience of the systems and infrastructure our communities rely on.
• Heatwave Ready – improving heatwave governance, preparedness, response and community resilience.
• Heat Smart Research – connecting research and practice to deliver effective heat-resilience solutions.

 

Turning the Plan into action

Implementation of the Heat Smart City Plan is already underway across Greater Sydney.

 

More than 40 organisations and 370 participants have contributed to the Taskforce and Heat Smart City Plan process, building new connections between organisations responsible for managing different aspects of heat risk.

 

Actions being progressed by Taskforce partners include:

• strengthening heatwave governance, risk assessment and emergency management arrangements;
• improving planning and design guidance for cooler, safer places;
• strengthening heat resilience in social housing and considering protections for renters;
• improving heat-health awareness, training and community information;
• building better heat data, monitoring and evidence to support decision-making;
• improving the resilience of transport, energy, water and other critical infrastructure; and
• supporting councils and communities to prepare for and respond to extreme heat.

 

The Taskforce also provides a forum for identifying emerging priorities and coordinating work where responsibility for heat cuts across multiple agencies or sectors.

 

A collaborative model for heat resilience

Heat cannot be addressed by any one organisation.

 

The Greater Sydney Heat Taskforce connects organisations with different responsibilities, expertise and levers for action – helping partners understand how their work fits into a broader city-wide response.

 

Taskforce members and partners include representatives from local councils, Australian and NSW Government agencies, emergency services, health organisations, infrastructure providers, industry, universities and community organisations.

 

WSROC and Resilient Sydney provide the Taskforce Secretariat, supporting coordination, implementation and engagement across participating organisations.

 

For more information: Taskforce Case Study 

 

Recognition

Greater Sydney's collaborative approach to heat resilience is increasingly being recognised nationally and internationally.

 

The Heat Smart City Plan is referenced in Australia's National Adaptation Plan as an example of action to address extreme heat, while the Greater Sydney Heat Taskforce has been featured through the United Nations Environment Programme's Beat the Heat: 50@50 initiative.

 

The Taskforce and Plan have also supported wider discussions about heat resilience across government, industry and international city networks.

 

Continuing the work

The Heat Smart City Plan runs from 2025–2030, and the Greater Sydney Heat Taskforce continues to coordinate and accelerate its implementation.