ARPANSA commenced Australia’s first centralised Electromagnetic Radiation (EMR) Health Complaints Register on 4 July 2003. The Register collects reports of health concerns related to possible EMR field exposures in the range of 0-300 GHz. Members of the public who believe they have suffered ill-effects as a result of exposure to EMR can lodge a written complaint to the Register describing the nature of their exposure and any adverse health effects they claim to have experienced. ARPANSA does not investigate or attempt to resolve individual complaints. Relevant data gathered is used to produce annual statistical summaries on the nature and level of complaints received. The Register operates in strict compliance with the Privacy Act 1988 and, as such, personal information on people reporting may not be disclosed.

Reports received

Since its commencement the Register has received 167 reports. The number of reports received for different years is shown below.

YearNumber of reports
2003-424
2004-55
2005-61
2006-77
2007-83
2008-109
2010-126
2012-1336
2013-1435
2014-1522
2015-167
2016-176
2017-182
2018-194

EMR sources

The sources of EMR reported during July 2018-June 2019, noting that some reports included more than one EMR source, were:

EMR sourceJuly 2018 - June 2019Cumulative
wi-fi332
mobile phones244
smart meter169
mobile phone base stations140
cordless phones113
bluetooth11
EFTPOS machines11

Health effects

The top ten health effects reported during July 2018-June 2019, noting that the reports included more than one health effect, were:

Health effectJuly 2018 - June 2019Cumulative
Poor concentration430
Headaches287
Body pain252
Disturbed sleep252
Nausea232
Heart palpitations and arrhythmia224
Memory problems221
Anxiety151
Lethargy141
Dizziness133

Demographics

Age (years)
 MinimumMaximumMedian
July 2018 - June 2019416154
Cumulative88853
Gender (no. of reports)
 MalesFemalesNot specified
July 2018 - June 20192 (50%)2 (50%)-
Cumulative66 (40%)97 (58%)4 (2%)
State (no. of reports)
 NSWVicSAWAQldTasACTNT
July 2018 - June 20192 (50%)1 (25%)1 (25%)-----
Cumulative41 (24%)101 (60%)4 (2%)6 (4%)9 (6%)5 (3%)1 (1%)-

Other

  • All of the people reporting during July 2018 – June 2019 were willing to be contacted (33 people in total reporting since the commencement of the register were not willing to be contacted).
  • All of the people reporting during July 2018 – June 2019 had seen a medical practitioner about their condition (34 people in total reporting since the commencement of the register had not seen medical practitioner).

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