Smoky Sydney skies this week are a reminder of the cost air pollution is having on our community. While toxic emissions from coal-fired power stations go into the air we breathe, they also fly largely under the radar.

We assume the regulators – the EPAs and state environment agencies – wouldn't allow pollution at levels that would harm us. Maybe we also assume the power station owners themselves – a mix of huge multinational corporations, state-owned entities and household-name Australian companies – would not emit at levels that would harm their workers and the surrounding communities.

Australia's 17 commercially operating coal-fired power stations release tonnes of toxic pollution into the air each year. Credit:Bloomberg

A report released this week by Environmental Justice Australia demonstrates otherwise. Australia has 17 commercially operating coal-fired power stations, located in NSW, Queensland, Victoria and Western Australia.

Australia's fleet of power stations is among the oldest and most inefficient in the world, with 89 per cent of our power stations classed as "subcritical" – the oldest type. Half of Australia's power stations are at least 30 years old. The oldest, Liddell in NSW, is 45-years-old. These power stations release more than a million tonnes of toxic pollution into the air each year.