About air quality around your home

Three main factors impact air quality around Victorian homes: 

• distance from pollution sources 
• sea breezes 
• local terrain. This refers to whether land is hilly or flat. 

Bushfire smoke and airborne dust can impact air quality. Apart from these, emissions from transport, industry and commercial and domestic activities can also impact air quality. 

This means people who live further from cities will generally have better air quality. 

In Melbourne, air pollution’s impact means all suburbs can sometimes have poor air quality. Some areas can, however, have consistently better or worse air quality: 

• Homes closer to Bass Strait get a generally cleaner sea breeze because it doesn’t travel across Melbourne. 
• Homes closer than 100 metres to major roads can have poorer air quality than other areas. This can be worse during peak traffic times. 
• Homes on hills can have better air quality. This because air pollution tends to gather in valleys. 

About indoor air quality

The air in your home must be safe to breathe. To maintain or improve air quality in your home, make sure: 

• it's not filled with smoke from open fireplaces, cigarettes, vaping or incense 
• any gas or wood stoves have clean and properly installed flues 
• to limit the use of chemicals in your home. For example, paints and glues. When using chemicals, open windows to maintain good airflow in your home 
• you check whether building materials you want to use give off gases. Materials such as particle board or medium density fibreboard (MDF) can do this. 

Find out more about clean air and future quality 

Clean air for all Victorians 

Future air quality in Victoria

Melbourne's air quality

Clean air and future air quality

Air pollution: A summary of the state of knowledge (publication 1709)