The Safer Shared Air: Making the Invisible Visible Conference 2025 brought together lived-experience advocates, scientists, policymakers and industry leaders to highlight why indoor air quality is fundamental to health, accessibility and inclusion. The event explored how the air we share can limit participation, especially for people with chronic conditions, and highlighted solutions such as improved ventilation, filtration and accessible infection-control standards.
Speaking on the patient organisations panel, our CEO, Anne Wilson, outlined the many forms of unsafe air that affect people with ME/CFS and long COVID, including exposure to scents, viruses and pollutants. She explained that “safer air” for our community means air that is free from fragrances, chemicals, pathogens and environmental irritants that can trigger severe symptom exacerbation. This is particularly important because many people with ME/CFS and long COVID also experience co-occurring conditions such as MCAS and multiple chemical sensitivities, which make clean, scent and chemical free air essential.
Anne also emphasised that the risks of unsafe air extend beyond those well enough to leave their homes. For people who are house- or bed-bound, direct and indirect exposure through family members, schools, workplaces and carers forces households to make constant, high-stakes decisions about contact, participation and care.
She called for practical protections such as universal masking in healthcare, improved ventilation and filtration in schools and public buildings, and reliable hybrid access to essential services. These measures, she argued, are fundamental to restoring equity, safety and participation for people with energy-limiting conditions.
Emerge Australia has partnered with the Safer Air Project to develop a suite of information and advocacy resources for our community, which we will be launching in 2026.
