From 27 January to 8 February 2009, southern Australia experienced one of the nation’s most severe heatwaves. Governments, councils, utilities, hospitals and emergency response organizations, and the community were largely under-prepared for an extreme event of this magnitude.

This case study was funded by the National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility (NCCARF) under its Synthesis and Integrative Research Program. The study targets the experience and challenges faced by decision-makers and policy-makers, and focuses on the major metropolitan areas affected by the heatwave: Melbourne and Adelaide.

Please cite report:

Queensland University of Technology 2010, Impacts and adaptation response of infrastructure and communities to heatwaves: The southern Australian experience of 2009, National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility, Gold Coast, 152 pp.

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Photo by Arguelles Montiel