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Air Quality in Maribyrnong

Council is actively working to address environmental and health concerns attributed to poor air quality in the City of Maribyrnong through advocacy, monitoring and education.

Our community can also contribute to a cleaner and healthier environment. It starts with understanding the impact of poor quality on our health – in Maribyrnong this is can be demonstrated by our Asthma rates, which are among the worst in Victoria.

On this page you will find a range of resources and information to help better understand the importance of air quality, its impact on Melbourne’s West, and ways we can come together and breathe easier.

What Council is doing to address air pollution?

While combatting the issue of air pollution goes beyond the work that Council undertakes, there are still several things Council is doing to help educate our community, monitor air quality and enable community to protect themselves against air pollution.

No Truck Zone Success

After years of advocacy and community campaigning, no truck zones are now enforced on major roads in Yarraville, Footscray, Spotswood and Altona North. These locations include:

  • Francis Street, Yarraville
  • Somerville Road, Yarraville
  • Buckley Street, Footscray
  • Moore Street, Footscray.

An evening and weekend no-truck zone enforcement has also been put in place for Williamstown Road, from 8pm to 6am on weekdays and at all times on weekends.

Read more on the no truck zones here.

RMIT Community-Led Air Monitoring Project

The Community‑Led Air Quality Network Victoria project, led by RMIT University under the Air Quality Improvement Precincts Grant Program 2025, will strengthen local air‑quality monitoring and decision‑making across Victoria, particularly for communities impacted by pollution.

The project supports councils to deploy low‑cost sensor networks through community co‑design and technical support, building long‑term capacity using the proven NSW OPENAIR model.

For the City of Maribyrnong, the project will deliver a network of air‑quality monitoring sensors across the municipality, providing a consistent evidence base to support targeted advocacy, education and action to improve local air quality.

Where are we experiencing poor air quality?

While we've already identified several hotspots for monitoring sensors, alongside the Maribyrnong Truck Action Group, we are also asking our community if there is a key air pollution hotspot we may have missed.

Drop a pin on the map below and tell us what is impacting air quality in that location.

Share your ideas by 31 May 2026.

If you have any questions or further ideas, please email environment@maribyrnong.vic.gov.au.

What you can do to help

While Maribyrnong City Council is working with government to clean up our air, it is community collaboration that will bring about true change.

Take up some of the below actions and contribute to cleaner and healthier air for us all.

  • As a driver

    • Replacing your diesel car with an electric, hybrid or petrol vehicle.
    • Not idling your vehicle unnecessarily, particularly outside of schools and childcare centres.
    • Keeping your car tuned and regularly replacing air filters, including diesel particulate filters.
    • Minimising trips during peak hour by taking public transport.

  • As a home owner

    • Increase the energy efficiency of your home.
    • Minimise the use of air conditioners.
    • Use appliances smartly.
    • Switch to renewable energy.
    • Plant more trees.
    • Move away from wood heaters to sources of renewable energy heating.

  • As a consumer

    • Recycle and upcycle.
    • Consume less.
    • Choose sustainable products.
    • Eat local and organic produce and less meat.
    • Grow your own food.

Further information

Have some more time? Learn more about the topics below.

Polluted air comes from a range a different sources like industry emissions, vehicle exhaust, smoke and even dust. The key indicator of air quality is not just the amount of ‘particulate matter’ (PM) that is in the air, but also its size.

Particulate matter is generally grouped into three categories: coarse, fine and ultrafine.

Large particles can irritate your eyes, nose and throat, but it’s the finer particles, generally anything finer than what is known as PM2.5, which poses the greatest risk to our health. These particles can get deep into your lungs and bloodstream.

To put this into perspective, the diameter of particulate matter is measured in micrometres, which is one thousandth of a millimetre. A grain of sand is 9 micrometres – so 2.5 is tiny!

While PM2.5 particles are microscopic, they are big enough to be ingested directly into our lungs.

This can cause greater harm to people who are sensitive to air pollution like small children, pregnant women, the elderly or people with pre-existing health conditions.

You can find out more about polluted air and particulate matter, here.

Areas with high pollution sources such as main roads, coal fired plants and industrial areas, major cities and outer suburban regions are referred to as pollution ‘hot spots’. This is because they contain the highest level of particulate matter and other pollutant gasses that can have severe impacts on our health. These pollutants all cause harm – even at lower levels than current government standards.

In the 2019 ABC podcast, Life Matters, host and journalist Hilary Harper is joined by Dr Vicki Kotsirilos from Doctors for the Environment Australia, and Martin Wurt, President of the Maribyrnong Truck Action Group to discuss how the pollution in our municipality is poor and getting worse.

They explain how factors like a growing population and ongoing industrial manufacturing are further impacting the quality of our air; and regardless of where you live in Melbourne – no amount of air pollution is safe.

Poor air quality is known to contribute to asthma, poor lung development, heart disease, underweight newborns, infertility and diabetes. The risks for children are far greater as their lungs do not fully develop until adulthood, meaning constant exposure to polluted air can have life-long impacts on our younger generation.

The podcast also interviews local residents, like Kate from Yarraville, who shares their fears for the health of their young son. Kate explains that their family are unable to open their windows or play outside due to the overwhelming smell of diesel emitted from trucks in the area.

You can listen to the full Life Matters Podcast here and learn more about what needs to be done to restore safe and breathable air for our community and country.

PM2.5 and your health | Environmental Protection Agency 2020