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Australia’s education system is quietly failing to equip young people with the climate knowledge they will need to survive and govern a warming world.
Whether climate change is taught in Australia’s primary and secondary schools is no longer academic.
Climate change is already reshaping Australia’s economy, ecosystems, infrastructure and public health.
The children currently sitting in classrooms will spend their adult lives navigating escalating heat, extreme weather, ecological disruption and energy transition.
Whether they understand these forces will influence how well Australia copes.
Climate change does appear in the Australian Curriculum. But its treatment is fragmented, uneven and often delayed until late secondary school. As a result, many students complete their schooling with only a partial understanding of climate science, risks, and responses.
How climate change appears in the Australian Curriculum
Australia’s national curriculum is set by the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA), with implementation overseen by States and Territories. In the most recent Version 9.0 update, ACARA significantly increased explicit references to climate change across learning areas.
ACARA documents identify more than thirty explicit mentions of climate change across science, geography, humanities, civics and cross-curriculum priorities. This represents a substantial increase compared with earlier versions, where climate change was frequently implicit or peripheral. [1]
In secondary school, climate change is most clearly addressed in Science and Geography, particularly in Years 9 and 10. Students are expected to learn about greenhouse gases, energy balance, observed warming, impacts and mitigation strategies. Civics and citizenship subjects may also touch on international climate agreements and governance.
However, the curriculum does not mandate a comprehensive climate learning sequence across all years. Much depends on subject selection, teacher confidence and school priorities.
Primary school climate education: largely optional
In primary school, climate change is rarely taught explicitly. While related concepts appear, such as weather, natural hazards, ecosystems and sustainability, there is no requirement that students understand climate change as a scientific and societal phenomenon.
Analyses of curriculum changes show that earlier geography content dealing with climate systems was reduced in favour of broader environmental themes. This has limited opportunities to introduce climate concepts early in an age-appropriate way. [5]
As a result, primary climate education often depends on individual teachers or schools choosing to go beyond minimum requirements. Some schools engage external programs or use state-based resources, but coverage remains inconsistent across jurisdictions.
This gap matters. Research shows that early climate education supports scientific literacy, critical thinking and emotional resilience. Delaying structured climate learning until adolescence risks leaving students unprepared to understand climate impacts they are already experiencing.
Secondary school climate education: uneven depth
Secondary schools provide more formal exposure to climate change, particularly in science. Students typically learn about the enhanced greenhouse effect, evidence of warming and human drivers. Geography classes may examine climate impacts, adaptation, and mitigation.
Yet even at this level, coverage is uneven. Climate change may be treated as one unit among many, sometimes rushed or disconnected from real-world decision making. Teachers report uncertainty about how deeply to engage with policy, economics, or social justice dimensions.
Studies and departmental reviews indicate that some educators avoid climate change due to perceived controversy, lack of training or concern about community backlash. [2]
The result is fragmented climate literacy. Students may learn isolated facts without understanding how climate change shapes energy systems, food security, employment, health, or governance.
Barriers teachers face
Teachers operate within crowded curricula and tight time constraints. Literacy and numeracy targets dominate early schooling, leaving little room for emerging cross-cutting issues unless they are clearly prioritised.
Many teachers report limited access to professional development focused on climate pedagogy. While scientific consensus is clear, translating climate knowledge into age-appropriate, solution-focused learning requires support.
There is also concern about student anxiety. Without guidance on constructive framing, some teachers avoid climate discussions rather than risk distress. This avoidance can inadvertently increase anxiety by leaving students without tools to understand or contextualise what they see in the world around them.
Why climate literacy matters
Climate change is no longer a niche scientific topic. It influences infrastructure design, public health planning, agriculture, insurance, defence, energy markets and labour demand. The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) has repeatedly warned that climate impacts will intensify across Australia this century. [6]
Students leaving school today will enter a workforce shaped by decarbonisation, climate adaptation and disaster response. Climate literacy supports employability, civic participation and democratic decision making.
Young Australians themselves consistently express strong interest in learning about climate change and contributing to solutions. Education systems that ignore this reality risk disengagement and mistrust.
Should climate change be taught more comprehensively?
The evidence strongly suggests yes. A coherent national approach would ensure all students develop climate literacy regardless of school, postcode, or teacher background.
This would involve explicit learning outcomes at each stage of schooling, beginning with foundational concepts in primary years and progressing toward systems thinking, solutions and civic engagement in secondary school.
Climate change should be integrated across disciplines. Mathematics can explore data trends. Civics can examine governance. Arts can explore cultural responses. Science can provide the physical foundation.
Teacher support is essential. Commonwealth and state governments could expand professional development, resource hubs and curriculum guidance aligned with best practice and scientific consensus.
Preparing students for a climate-shaped future
Education alone cannot solve climate change. But without climate-literate citizens, Australia’s capacity to respond is weakened.
Schools shape how young people understand risk, responsibility, and possibility. Teaching climate change clearly, early and constructively is not political advocacy. It is preparation for reality.
The world Australian students will inherit is already warmer than the one their parents knew. Education systems that fail to acknowledge this are not neutral. They are unprepared.
References
- ACARA: Australian Curriculum Version 9.0 and climate change
- Australian Government Department of Education: Climate change education
- IPCC AR6 Synthesis Report
- Bureau of Meteorology and CSIRO: State of the Climate
- The Conversation: Climate change in the Australian Curriculum
- CSIRO: Climate change science and impacts