The House of Representatives Standing Committee on Health, Aged Care and Sport has commenced an Inquiry into Sleep Health Awareness in Australia, following a referral from the Minister for Health, Aged Care and Sport, the Hon Greg Hunt MP.
It has been estimated that approximately 7.4 million Australians do not get enough sleep. Inadequate sleep can impact on a person’s health and wellbeing, and may also lead to a loss of workforce productivity. Deloitte Access Economics assessed the health system costs associated with inadequate sleep to be approximately $1.8 billion in 2016-17.
The Committee Chair stated that “the Committee will examine the causes, [the] economic and social costs, and treatment of inadequate sleep and sleep disorders, in addition to education and training available to medical professionals regarding sleep health issues, and current research into sleep health”.
SSMA suspects that the MPs on this committee, along with most medical professionals, are unaware of the impact that pulsed radiofrequency emissions are having on Australians’ sleep.
A PubMed-listed, peer-reviewed study entitled Self-reporting of Symptom Development from Exposure to Radiofrequency Fields of Wireless Smart Meters in Victoria, Australia: A Case Series found that the most common symptom as a result of exposure to the pulsed radiofrequency fields from smart meters was insomnia. Forty eight percent of the people in the 92-case study reported insomnia, sleep disturbance, or sleep disruption.
If emissions from smart meters, or other radiofrequency devices, have adversely affected your sleep, here is your chance to tell the committee about the cause, impact and cost (economic and social) of inadequate sleep on your life.
Submissions from individuals and organisations are invited by Thursday, 18 October 2018. The preferred method is by electronic format lodged online using a My Parliament account.
Further information about this inquiry, including the full terms of reference and details on how to lodge a submission, are available here.