Many people and businesses are starting to do the right thing when it comes to balloons, including some city councils that are banning helium balloons at events. The balloons in the photo here were found on a beach in Tomakin, NSW. The Eurobodalla Shire Council has taken steps to ban the release of helium balloons at Council events and in council-managed reserves (see article below). We congratulate them on taking an important step and hope they will lead other local governments to do the same.
However there are still many out there who are not even aware of the issue! For this reason, the action group No Balloon Release Australia has started a petition to the federal Minister for the Environment, asking for an Australia wide ban on the release of helium balloons and the use of helium to inflate balloons. You can sign the petition calling on an Australia wide ban and keep updated on its progress here: https://www.change.org/p/minister-for-environment-josh-frydenberg-australia-wide-ban-on-the-release-of-balloons-and-the-use-of-helium-to-inflate-balloons
The Australian Government recognises that balloons are a threat to wildlife in their Draft Threat Abatement Plan for the Impacts of Marine Debris on Vertebrae Marine Species 2017. This plan is open for public submission until 13 April 2017.
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