In 2025, the cleaning and hygiene industry stopped treating indoor air as an abstract concept and began to understand it as a human right. LITMAS technical and managing director Dr Claire Bird says it’s been the year Australia realised it has to clean more than just surfaces.
Bird says the shift was driven by advocacy, science and visibility. “Australian advocates and scientists led the way in getting safe indoor air quality recognised as a basic human right,” she says. “Poor air quality inside buildings is now seen as an accessibility barrier. It’s a major hurdle for vulnerable people just trying to shop, work or get educated.”
Two major reports helped shape the conversation. THRIVE’s State of Indoor Air in Australia highlighted how little we understand about the risks hidden inside buildings. “It showed huge gaps in our understanding of the task ahead,” Bird says. The Australian Academy of Science followed with a pathway for change. “It lays out a route from voluntary reporting of IAQ metrics to mandatory disclosure by the regulators to final adoption as regulated IAQ standards.”
A global push with Australian voices
Bird says the issue has moved well beyond local debate, with dialogue spreading across the globe. In New York, more than 300 international attendees joined an indoor air quality side meeting, the biggest of its kind. “It hosted over 160 world-leading bodies including the World Health Organisation,” she says. Montenegro, France and others signed a pledge recognising safe air as a basic human right. The WELL Building Institute launched its Global Commission on Healthy Indoor Air at the same event.
In Canberra, the Making the Invisible Visible conference brought attention to Parliament House. “Here the NSW government announced an inquiry into IAQ in Australia,” Bird says. It coincided with the approval of the Australian Centre for Disease Control, backed by a quarter of a billion dollars in funding and tasked with safeguarding Australia from public health threats.
According to Bird, research is gaining ground on the subject, with a multi-million-dollar international grant. “US$139 million (AUD $212,501m) was awarded to create indoor biosensors, develop respiratory risk assessment software and install systems in buildings to cost-effectively deliver healthier air when needed.”
With airborne transmission of COVID-19 and other respiratory illnesses now widely acknowledged, Bird sees a clearer approach to dampness and mould. “The introduction of NORMI to our shores in Australia is set to lay a new path to protection from damp buildings in a measurable and reportable way.”
Indoor air can no longer hide in plain sight. Bird calls it a turning point, where clean air inside buildings has to be proven, measured and trusted.
