Exploring adaptive capacity to arid heat in remote First Nations communities in Central Australia

Extreme heat is associated with increased mortality and high health service demands. Despite a substantial body of heat-health research in Australia, there is limited evidence on hot weather-specific impacts on First Nations people living in remote communities. Here we used one-on-one yarning sessions, a First Nations form of knowledge sharing, with 30 participants (n = 30) to explore factors influencing vulnerability and resilience to hot weather in four remote First Nations communities of Central Australia. Using purposive and snowball sampling, participants were recruited to document lived experiences of extreme heat and related adaptive practices. A deductive coding approach aligned with a vulnerability-resilience framework was applied to the data. Participants described how hot weather affected their physical and mental health, daily activities, sleep, and cultural practices. Participants highlighted increased risks associated with hot weather for children, older people, women, and people with pre-existing medical conditions or disabilities. Although participants reported using a range of cooling strategies, including air conditioning, shifting activities to cooler parts of the day, resting under shade trees, and swimming in nearby waterholes, the effectiveness of these strategies was constrained by key vulnerabilities that increased heat-related health risks. These vulnerabilities were primarily linked to poor housing and energy insecurity that affected indoor thermal comfort, limited shaded outdoor areas or heat refuges, and certain cooling practices, such as consumption of sugar-containing cold beverages. Our findings indicate that investments in local infrastructure, reinforcement of adaptive knowledge, and co-produced knowledge strategies are essential for climate-resilient remote communities.