Ten Australians affected by extreme weather linked to climate change have filed a legal complaint against the federal government with the UN human rights committee. The claimants, who include a legally blind man trapped in his apartment by floods and a woman whose home became unbearable during a heatwave, argue that the government's continued support for fossil fuel exports violates their human rights.
Flood Victim's Ordeal
Brendon Donohue, 33, who is legally blind due to Peters plus syndrome, was trapped alone in his second-storey apartment in Brisbane's West End for 10 days during floods in February 2022. With the lift, intercom, and front entrance shut down, he had no safe way out. “It was terrifying,” he says. “The whole street was badly impacted with water. The power went out, which made me not able to contact anyone. I ran out of food but couldn’t get any into the building.”
Bushfire Survivor's Trauma
Jack Egan lost his house in Batemans Bay, New South Wales, to bushfires on New Year's Eve 2019. He recalls flames consuming his front deck and licking into his home through windows. After giving up trying to save his property, he ran through raining embers to escape. He could not find his partner, Cath, and feared she had died—33 people lost their lives that season. “I thought for some time that she was dead,” he says.
Heatwave Health Crisis
Mel Fisher stayed in her small brick public housing home in Adelaide's Elizabeth Vale during a heatwave last summer, with multiple days above 40°C. The home captured heat, and a night with a minimum of 34°C exacerbated her painful auto-inflammatory skin condition, leaving her bedridden. “I have poor insulation, the interior walls are all concrete and I have a tin roof. I genuinely thought I might die from the heat,” Fisher says. “Sometimes the pain gets so bad that it can feel like my skin is ripping and tearing.”
Indigenous Perspective on Toxic Algal Bloom
Latisha Francis, 25, a Ngarrindjeri, Kaurna, and Narungga woman studying marine conservation, coped with an unprecedented toxic algal bloom linked to rising sea temperatures. The bloom killed wildlife and drove her family away from the coastline that has been their home for millennia. “It was so distressing, from an Indigenous perspective,” she says. “So much of our culture was being shared by the ocean. A lot of people just distance themselves from the water now because they are too scared to go near it.”
Legal Complaint Details
The complaint, backed by the Human Rights Law Centre, Environmental Justice Australia, and Earthjustice, is the first legal claim in an international court or body against a state for climate harm since the International Court of Justice released an advisory opinion that states have a legal obligation to prevent climate harm. Australia was one of 140 countries to pass a UN resolution supporting that ruling last month. The complaint argues the government is violating claimants' human rights by supporting coal and gas developments that fuel climate extremes. If the UN committee finds in their favour, it could recommend actions, but these would not be enforceable.
Scientific Evidence
David Karoly, an emeritus professor at the University of Melbourne and former IPCC lead author, says emissions from burning coal, oil, and gas significantly increase the risk of damage from bushfires, floods, and heatwaves. He states, “Australia has to take responsibility for its emissions, whether it is domestic emissions or the larger emissions overseas after it exports coal and gas.” He acknowledges Australian courts have not agreed, citing a federal court case that found no legal duty to protect the Torres Strait Islands from climate change, though it agreed they faced a bleak future.
Political Support
Independent MP Zali Steggall says the complaint highlights a “glaring inconsistency” in climate policy: cutting domestic emissions while expanding fossil fuel export support. “The stories of these claimants show climate change is not an abstract future threat,” she says.
Government Defense
The government is expected to argue it is backing renewable energy and cutting domestic emissions, aiming to develop clean export industries, and that cutting off coal and gas would damage trade relationships while other countries continue selling them.
Expert Opinion
Harj Narulla, a barrister at Doughty Street Chambers and Oxford University, says Australia has a “huge amount of liability and exposure” given the scale of its fossil fuel exports. “I think Australia has a very, very challenging case to answer,” he says. “It’s the first complaint of its kind we’ve seen against Australia, but I don’t think it will be the last.”
