The drawing below numbers each opening, and the sections that follow take them in order. Each piece of advice is credited to the state or national body that gives it.
- 1Doors
- 2Windows
- 3Vents
- 4Chimneys
- 5Where people sleep
- 6Tanks and containers
Doors and windows
Queensland asks for insect screens on doors and windows, kept in good condition with no visible damage. healthdirect’s test is the same in other words: no tears or holes. Victoria gives the mesh a size, no coarser than 12 × 12 meshes per 25 mm, or 1.2 mm.
Some biting insects are smaller than mosquitoes. WA Health describes biting midges as tiny flies about the size of a pin head, small enough to fit through standard fly screens, and its advice for houses is to screen all doors and windows with a fine mesh. It adds that ceiling fans or other air circulation devices may discourage midges from biting.
Vents and chimneys
Victoria, NSW and South Australia each carry the screening past the doors and windows, to vents and chimneys. NSW Health’s fact sheet puts it more widely still: fly screens on windows, doors, vents and other entrances.
Where people sleep
When a room has no screens, the advice moves the mesh closer to the person. Queensland’s advice is that where doors and windows have no insect screens, mosquito nets should be used, above all where people sleep. South Australia says to cover sleeping areas with mosquito nets or insect screens. For travel and camping, NSW Health suggests sleeping in screened or air-conditioned rooms, and a bed net if you sleep outdoors or where mosquitoes are known to be.
Babies have their own openings: the pram, the stroller, the cot and the carrier. Queensland, South Australia and NSW each name netting for them, and the detail for each state, with its limits on repellent by age, is in mosquito-borne disease and screens.
Sprays, and then the open window
Victoria’s checklist suggests a “knockdown” fly spray against mosquitoes you can see in the house. For enclosed outdoor areas like verandas and decks it suggests plug-in vaporisers or diffusers with repellent pads, switched off as soon as the area is no longer in use, and mosquito coils outdoors, supervised at all times. Queensland’s advice is to read and follow all directions and precautions on the product label.
The Better Health Channel’s advice on household pesticides ends at a window. Leave the room while a pesticide such as fly spray takes effect, and when you come back, open the windows to clear the air. WA Health gives the same instruction for chemical cleaners and sprays: follow the instructions and open windows and doors. healthdirect’s reason for insect screens is to stop mosquitoes getting inside, which is what lets that window stand open.
Tanks and containers outside
Victoria’s checklist warns that the mosquitoes biting you are likely to have bred in your own yard and garden, and that even the tiniest amount of water will do for breeding. In Queensland, the Public Health Act means your local council could fine you if mosquitoes are breeding around your home.
Queensland’s routine is a weekly check for mosquitoes or larvae, and to tip out, wipe out, throw out or dry store anything that can hold water. Its list of household breeding sites includes checking the screens and seals on rainwater tanks. Every state page in the table below names tank openings, and screens on rainwater tanks sets out each state’s rule in full.
Which state names which opening
Read across a row to see which departments name an opening on the pages this guide read. Read down a column to see one state’s whole list.
| Opening | Victoria | Queensland | NSW | SA | WA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Windows | Named | Named | Named | Named | For midges, fine mesh |
| Doors | Named | Named | Named | Named | For midges, fine mesh |
| Vents | Named | Not named | Named | Named | Not named |
| Chimneys | Named | Not named | Named | Named | Not named |
| Where people sleep | Not named | Nets where unscreened | Screened rooms or a bed net when travelling or camping | Nets or screens | For midges, fine mesh bed nets for young children |
| Babies’ prams and cots | Not named | Nets over prams and cots | Netted infant carrier | Netting over prams and strollers | Not named |
| Tank openings | Named | Named | Named | Named | Named |
Five departments, five lists, and one shared habit: wherever they name an opening, they give it a mesh, a net or a lid. Keeping that mesh whole is covered in caring for mesh.