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We recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders as the sovereign Traditional Owners of Australia and thank them for their stewardship of this Country, its lands, waters and skies. We respectfully acknowledge their culture and customary practices, and pay respect to their Ancestors, Elders and future leaders.

For the first time, the State of the Environment report includes a strong Indigenous narrative across all 12 thematic chapters, a narrative crafted through recognising the leadership, collaboration and authorship of Indigenous Australians who continue their connection as Traditional Owners to their lands, waters and skies.

Click to view the State of the Environment report

 

On 28 March 2025 the government assumed a Caretaker role. Information on websites maintained by the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water will be published in accordance with the Guidance on Caretaker Conventions until after the conclusion of the caretaker period.

Due to technical issues, graphs, maps and tables are currently not displaying within the main content, however, are available via the chapter resources navigation bar. We are working on a solution to resolve the issue.

Graphs, maps and tables

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Figure 1 (a) Traffic volume and (b) CO concentration across metropolitan Adelaide, March–July 2020
Figure 2 CO, NOx and PM2.5 levels during the initial peak COVID-19 restrictions in Adelaide compared with the previous 2015–19 average and the rest of 2020
A series of line graphs showing that COVID restrictions substantially reduced carbon monoxide levels, had a smaller effect on particulate matter, and little if any effect on nitrogen oxides. Levels of carbon monoxide and oxides of nitrogen peak during mor

CO = carbon monoxide; µg/m3 = microgram per cubic metre; NOx = nitrogen oxides; PM2.5 = fine particulate matter; ppm = parts per million

Source: South Australian Environment Protection Authority

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For more information, go toOutlook and impacts
Figure 3 (a) Fifteen-day running mean total column NO2 on 10 April 2020, (b) as an average of the same time across 2015–19 and (c) as the difference between the 2 plots
A series of choropleth maps showing that when COVID restrictions were in place, nitrogen dioxide levels were lower in suburban Melbourne.

cm2 = square centimetre; NO2 = nitrogen dioxide

Source: NASA Aura OMI satellite, originally published in Air Quality and Climate Change, publication of the Clean Air Society of Australia and New Zealand

For more information, go toOutlook and impacts
Figure 4 NO2 and ozone levels during the peak COVID-19 restrictions across all Melbourne air quality stations compared with the previous 2015–19 average for the same period
A pair of line graphs showing that when COVID restrictions were in place, nitrogen dioxide levels were lower than previously, whereas ozone levels were little affected. Nitrogen dioxide levels peak during commute times, whereas ozone levels show a broad p

NO2 = nitrogen dioxide; ppb = parts per billion

Note: Solid line represents the mean; shaded area represents the data range.

Source: Environment Protection Authority Victoria, originally published in Air Quality and Climate Change, publication of the Clean Air Society of Australia and New Zealand

For more information, go toOutlook and impacts
Figure 5 Years of life lost attributed to poor air quality in Australia
Figure 6 Population-weighted PM2.5 levels in SA2 regions across Australia
A series of choropleth maps showing that population-weighted PM2.5 levels tend to be lower on the east and southwest coasts, but high in the centres of capital cities and inland.

µg/m3 = microgram per cubic metre; PM2.5 = fine particulate matter; SA2 = Statistical Area Level 2

Note: The maps are constructed from annual averaged 2015–18 PM2.5 data (Knibbs 2020) and do not include the summer 2019–20 bushfire period. SA2 data are from ABS (2015).

Source: Christy Geromboux, Centre for Air pollution, Energy and Health Research data platform

For more information, go toOutlook and impacts
Figure 7 Flow of pollutants through the atmosphere, from emission sources to transport, chemical transformation and deposition to the environment
Figure 8 GEOS-5 simulation focused on Australia, at a 10 km resolution. Dust (red) is lifted from the interior, sea salt (blue) swirls inside cyclones, smoke (green) rises from fires, and sulfate particles (white) stream from volcanoes and fossil fuel emissions
Figure 9 Background CO levels from satellite measurements of the Australian average and surface measurements at Kennaook/Cape Grim, Tasmania, 2002–20
A line graph showing that carbon monoxide levels tend to be lowest in February and March and reach a maximum, which is an increase of about 60%, around September.

CO = carbon monoxide; ppb = parts per billion

Sources: Measurements of Pollution in the Troposphere satellite data: Rebecca Buchholz, National Center for Atmospheric Research, USA; Cape Grim data: Ray Langenfelds and Paul Krummel, CSIRO

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For more information, go toOutdoor air quality
Figure 10 Annual average lead levels at 2 locations in Port Pirie (South Australia), and at Mount Isa and the port at Townsville (Queensland), 2002–19