The report, titled From Cradle to Career: Fossil Fuel Industry Presence in Australian Childhood Settings is the first national investigation into the scale of fossil fuel industry engagement with children and young people in Australia.
Researchers identified 260 publicly documented programs and sponsorships run or funded by fossil fuel companies and industry bodies that reached children aged 0 to 18 in recent years.
One fossil fuel industry-linked education provider, Teacher Earth Science Education Programme Ltd (TESEP), projected its activities could reach more than two million Australian students over five years.
The investigation also identified more than $54 million in disclosed funding across just six of those programs. Funding figures were located for only a fraction of the programs examined, suggesting the true amount spent is likely substantially higher.
The Australian Greens are demanding an inquiry, with Senator Steph Hodgins-May, Greens spokesperson for Early Childhood Education and Assistant Spokesperson for Climate Change and Energy, saying fossil fuel companies must be barred from classrooms and warning the true scale of the problem is likely far greater than this report reveals, with no federal or state oversight of corporate-sponsored educational content.
“‘Get them young’ was Big Tobacco’s strategy, and it appears the fossil fuel industry has copied the playbook from cradle to career. They’re going after our kids,” Hodgins-May said in a statement.
“Labor approves new coal and gas projects with one hand, takes millions in fossil fuel donations with the other, and stands by while these corporations gain access to Australian classrooms.
Activists have campaigned to sever the Queensland Museum's decade-long, multimillion-dollar association with fossil fuel company, Shell, citing concerns over corporate influence on children's education.
Hodgins-May said coal and gas companies are trying to convince children that the industry driving the climate crisis is somehow the solution to it.
“They’re rewriting the story of climate change for a generation that will live with the consequences,” she said.
“I don’t want my children pretending to drill for oil while eating a Vegemite sandwich in a Woodside-funded lesson. I want them learning evidence-based science in classrooms free from fossil fuel propaganda.”
Comms Declare founder Belinda Noble said some of the programs involve science and climate change education.
"Big coal, oil and gas companies are helping drive climate change, yet simultaneously funding educational programs that shape how young Australians understand energy, resources and climate issues,” Noble said.
“Oil and gas companies sponsoring climate education is like a tobacco company giving cancer advice.
“We need to ensure children receive accurate, independent education, free from corporate influence,” Noble added.
PureProfile polling commissioned by Comms Declare in April found that 87 per cent of parents and grandparents believe educational programs should be funded by governments, rather than fossil fuel corporations, and 58 per cent support fossil fuel advertising bans.
The report also identifies significant governance and transparency gaps, with little public visibility over how sponsorship arrangements, educational materials and industry partnerships operate in practice.
“Six years ago an ASIC investigation forced banking programs, like Dollarmites, out of schools,” Noble added.
“Now big polluters are using the same loopholes to reach children, proving we need to find different ways to fund children's programs once and for all.”
Greens spokesperson for schools, Senator Penny Allman-Payne said fossil fuel companies are “smuggling their propaganda into classrooms to try to brainwash the next generation into believing their deadly lies”.
The report found that Over time, this repeated presence will contribute to forms of familiarity, legitimacy and reputational normalisation that existing governance systems are poorly equipped to recognise or assess.
“It should outrage every parent to learn that there are lesson plans in our schools created by the same multinational corporations that generate vast riches from our national resources and barely pay a cent for the privilege,” Allman-Payne said.
Comms Declare has called for a Senate inquiry into the scale, nature and impact of fossil fuel industry engagement with children and young people, alongside renewed calls for a national ban on fossil fuel advertising and sponsorships.
The organisation says an inquiry could examine the current agreements and arrangements, identify options for strengthening governance, transparency and accountability, and possible pathways for alternative funding.
The Australian Capital Territory banned fossil fuel sponsorships in its schools in early 2026 and more than 60 jurisdictions globally have voted for, or enacted, restrictions on fossil fuel marketing.
Click here to read the Comms Declare report.
