Welcome to the August edition of the DCAN Dispatch.

Support our motion to Darebin Council calling for a national Climate Compensation Fund

DCAN is a member of a local group that has been campaigning hard over the past couple of months for the creation of a national Climate Compensation Fund. The aim of the fund is to make the big gas and coal polluters pay their fair share of the costs of climate damage.

The fund would assist communities to prepare for and rebuild after disasters fuelled by climate change such as heatwaves, droughts, fires and floods. A key part of the campaign is calling on local councils to support the call for a national fund as the level of government closest to the communities affected.

The local campaign has now reached a crucial point. Our petition and a motion supporting the creation of a Climate Compensation Fund will be presented to the City of Darebin at the council meeting on 25th August.

If successful, Darebin will be the first metropolitan Melbourne council to join this significant national campaign. Three regional Victorian councils have already done so and we are hopeful that Darebin will support them and other councils around Australia who have already committed to advocate for their communities in this way.

If you can make it, please join us. The more of us who show up, the more we can demonstrate that the community supports both the petition and the motion.

When: 25 August, 6pm
Where: Preston Council Chambers, First Floor, 350 High Street, Preston 3072 (There is a hybrid option to attend online).

***Please note that if you intend to come to the Council meeting in person you need to register here by 12pm the day before the meeting. 

Thank you for your support. Hope to see you at the Council meeting!

Who pays for cleaning up after off-shore oil and gas mining?

The Wilderness Society recently went to the Federal Court to argue that Australia's oil and gas regulator, NOPSEMA, should have checked that Santos had the financial means to pay for the clean-up of the aging infrastructure in its Reindeer gas field in Western Australia before allowing it to proceed. Unfortunately the Court ruled that NOPSEMA was not legally required to pursue this.

Fern Cadman, the Wilderness Society’s Fossil Fuel Industry Campaigner, says: “This shows how broken Australia’s oil and gas laws are. It's gobsmacking that oil and gas companies can install massive offshore industrial infrastructure without first proving they have the funds set aside to clean it up.”

This means that taxpayers may have to foot the estimated $60 billion bill for cleaning up the toxic waste that oil and gas companies leave behind, creating a massive risk for the marine environment.

Sign the petition to demand that oil and gas companies should be required to remove their trash from Australia’s oceans!

[Photo credit: Zach Theo on Unsplash]

Help protect native forests and climate

DCAN is proud to be one of more than 50 groups who have signed onto a national campaign to protect and restore Australia's native forests by ending native forest logging and clearing. An historic first meeting of group representatives took place in Canberra last week.

With governments failing to protect our forests, the need for a national approach is more urgent than ever. Protecting Australia’s forests can’t be left to communities to fight for one forest at a time.

Besides their intrinsic value, the conservation of forests is one of the best ways to protect us against climate pollution, ensuring water security and also protecting our wildlife from growing rates of extinction.

Ten Forest Protection Principles have been agreed on. These outline a long-term vision for Australia's forests. Organisations, both big and small. are invited to sign on to support the campaign here.

Together we can make it happen!

Let's take action in August!

DCAN has introduced a new activity to our monthly meetings where we have a short break to take online action together on important campaigns. We would love you to join in the action each month by adding your support to these campaigns. The three campaigns we are focussing on for the month of August can all be found on our Take Action page listed under Current Campaigns. Briefly, the campaigns seek to:

• End the free ride for fossil fuels - say no to new coal and gas projects, call for a strengthening of the Safeguard Mechanism and a cap on the diesel fuel tax credit to the biggest mining corporations.
• Help protect Larrikia Country, culture and precious water resources by stopping Beetaloo Energy's massive AI data centre near Darwin.
• Make the Big Polluters Pay their Fair Share - help us boost the community campaign for a national Climate Compensation Fund (also referred to separately in this Dispatch).

[Photo credit: Markus Spiske on Unsplash]

State election: Would you like to see strong local climate candidates elected?

With the Victorian State election fast approaching, DCAN's Election Working Group is getting into action. We are planning to hold two candidates’ forums (one for the electorate of Northcote and another for Preston), and we are developing scorecards on the candidates' climate policies which we are hoping to distribute widely.

We are also working with other groups, including the Victorian Election Climate Collaboration. There is a lot to do, so we are looking for volunteers to help with all these tasks. Please contact Jude if you would like to help out – every little bit helps!

Apartment Electrification and EV Charging

A few months ago, DCAN wrote a submission and appeared before a state parliamentary committee on the use of renewable energy in apartments. The committee has now prepared its report and makes 25 recommendations to improve access of apartment buildings, owners and renters to renewable energy. You can access the report from the committee website here.

Following on from our submission to the parliamentary enquiry, the DCAN Electrification Working Group has started looking at EV charging options for apartment dwellers. While the number of apartment dwellers owning EVs is still small, we need to act now on preparing for the transition to EVs. For most households, including apartments, if a car is part of the household transport options, it is likely to be the largest household source of emissions.

DCAN has submitted a council community grant application to run an information session. If you own an EV and live in an apartment, we would love to hear from you to understand your charging experience. Also, if you are on an Owners Corporation committee and want to tell us about your ambitions on EV charging, we would also like to be in contact. Please contact us here and quote this article.

[Illustration credit: Alghozy on Unsplash]

Activating your activism - an interview with Linda Marks on 3CR

You can listen to a recent interview with Linda Marks, co-ordinator of DCAN’s Outreach Team, on Radio 3CR’s Climate Action Show “Activating your activism - how to get back into it”. Linda’s interview starts 24 minutes into the show. She describes various entry points into climate activism and outlines her volunteer work with DCAN. Well worth a listen.

Join Linda and other volunteers on Thursday mornings, 10am to 11am, on the St George’s Road bike path to chat to passers-by, chalk climate action messages and pick up litter (which is categorised and logged onto the EPA website), then have a well-deserved cuppa and chat at a nearby café. Contact Linda here.

DCAN at Melbourne Polytechnic

The SLAM team (Student Life at Melbourne Polytechnic) invited DCAN’s Outreach Group to join the recent Sustainability Week activities at the Preston and Fairfield campuses. The SLAM team encouraged students to ask questions about the climate emergency and strategies for sustainability. The Outreach team provided information about the ‘Make the Polluters Pay’ campaign and how they can replace gas stoves in student accommodation with affordable portable induction stove tops.

Support our work in 2026 and beyond

Help spread the work about climate action

Please join us on Instagram, Facebook and Bluesky. Every like, comment, and share helps amplify our impact and spread the word about climate action in our community. Email us if you would like to join the DCAN social media team. We would love to have you onboard.

Want to know more about DCAN?

Why not come along to one of our monthly meetings? We usually meet on the second Thursday of each month at 7.00pm at the Bridge Preston. Please drop us an email at [email protected] to let us know that you are coming so we can welcome you and give you an agenda ahead of the meeting.

Our next meeting will be at 7:00 pm on September 10th, 2026 in the Waratah Room at the Bridge, 261 High, Preston.