By Adam Carey
The long-term health effects of Melbourne Airport’s future third runway will be studied in a 20-year project that will track how increased flight activity affects people’s sleep, mental health and even children’s reading comprehension.
The study will be the first large-scale, long-term investigation of aviation and community health of its kind in Australia.
Melbourne Airport is building a third runway to handle increased air traffic. Credit: Luis Enrique Ascui
It will report annually on health impacts from the third runway, which is expected to open in 2031, and will begin by gathering baseline health data in affected communities before the runway opens.
Other potential impacts raised for consideration in the study, according to an engagement plan, include annoyance and the potential for increased risk of heart attacks, migraines and other stress-related conditions.
The Melbourne Airport-funded study was a condition of the Albanese government’s approval for the third runway, which is being built to handle an extra 136,500 passenger journeys a year, plus increased freight.
The new north-south runway will increase aircraft activity and noise over thousands of homes and community facilities in Melbourne’s north-west, impacting suburbs such as Kealba, St Albans, Sunshine, Keilor and Derrimut.
The terms of reference for the study are being developed by a panel of health and environment experts from Deakin University and will be put to the federal government for approval in September.
“It aims to provide a transparent, independent and scientifically rigorous understanding of the long-term health effects of aircraft noise,” the university said.
Professor Catherine Bennett, a prominent epidemiologist who was part of the inquiry into Australia’s COVID-19 response, will lead the panel.
Bennett said the airport has a significant impact – both good and bad – on many people’s lives in Melbourne’s north-west, and the study would look to measure all of this.
Deakin University distinguished professor and epidemiologist Catherine Bennett is leading the establishment of the long-term study.Credit: Justin McManus
“It’s the biggest employer in the area,” she said. “It’s becoming a centre for entertainment. Of course, there are people who are already struggling with aircraft noise, who have worries about what more this might bring.”
Bennett said the study is primarily focused on aircraft noise and the impact it might have on physical and mental health, but could be broadened into other areas of concern, such as air quality.
“We also think there’s a lot of concern among some of the action groups, for example, about things that aren’t really showing up in the science, but people might be really concerned about.
“We want to hear about that because our recommendations ... could include some of those things to allay those concerns,” she said.
The panel has already met with community representatives, councils and schools that are affected by aircraft noise.
Many of the most affected suburbs are in Brimbank City Council which has lodged an application for a merits review of the government’s third runway approval before the federal Administrative Review Tribunal.
The council commissioned its own independent health study in 2022, which found that noise impacts would exceed World Health Organisation guidelines, that children under the flight paths could experience cognitive delays of up to six months, and that the extra noise could cause sleep disturbance, anxiety, depression and cardiovascular disease.
“Council has taken this action due to its concerns about the conditional approval,” a spokesperson said. “As always, Brimbank Council’s priority is to ensure the third runway does not unreasonably compromise the health, wellbeing and amenity of the community affected by Melbourne Airport.”
Keilor Lodge resident Shannon Meilak is one of the lead campaigners in the No Third Tulla Runway group.Credit: Jason South
Shannon Meilak lives in Keilor Lodge, one of the suburbs closest to the airport runway, and is part of the grassroots campaign No Third Tulla Runway.
Meilak said a long-term health study “is absolutely imperative”, but that people were already experiencing health and wellbeing problems from aircraft noise.
“It’s not just about it being noisy and annoying,” she said.
“A lot of people don’t realise that there’s actually health impacts from excessive exposure to noise.
“These can range from ... dementia, to having increased anxiety, blood pressure and hypertension.”
Meilak said there were also community concerns about how extra aircraft noise might depreciate property values.
“We’re already seeing people sell up and leave,” she said.
Melbourne Airport’s strategy, planning and community manager Justin Portelli said the third runway was “essential infrastructure that ensures Melbourne remains connected to the rest of Australia and the world, supporting economic growth, jobs and tourism well into the future”.
He said the study was an important initiative that would provide evidence-based insights into how communities surrounding the airport are affected by aircraft noise.
“As findings from the health study emerge over time, Melbourne Airport will ensure these findings are transparently communicated and considered as part of broader discussions with government and local communities.”
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