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.
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Authors of the report assess various aspects of the environment and rate their status, the impact of pressures, the effectiveness of management, and the impact on our wellbeing. Assessments are based on the current science and literature and expert opinion, and authors also rate their confidence in the strength of the evidence that supports the assessment.
Temperatures over the Australian continent, and over the oceans surrounding Australia, have increased since 1910. Warming has continued over the past 5 years – the warmest years on record were experienced by the Australian land surface in 2019 and the sea surface in the Australian region in 2016.
Related to United Nations Sustainable Development Goal target 13.2
Rainfall has decreased since 1970 in south-western and south-eastern Australia. The strongest decreases have been in the cool season, placing substantial stresses on water availability in those regions. Over the same period, rainfall has increased in north-western Australia. In other parts of Australia, a clear trend has not emerged outside natural variability. However, the 2017–19 drought was of unprecedented intensity in some regions, particularly in the northern Murray–Darling Basin.
Related to United Nations Sustainable Development Goal target 13.2
Global sea levels are continuing to rise at a rate of 3–3.5 millimetres per year. Rates of sea level rise since 1993 have been above the global average around many parts of the Australian coastline, but there is no clear indication that this will continue to be the case. Related to United Nations Sustainable Development Goal target 13.2
Extreme events are generally increasing in frequency and severity, with the clearest changes occurring in temperature extremes and fire weather.
Related to United Nations Sustainable Development Goal targets 11.5, 13.1, 13.2, 15.3
The occurrence of high-temperature extremes has increased on a wide range of measures. Heatwaves that occurred in 2018–19 and 2019–20 were of record-breaking intensity and area. The occurrence of low-temperature extremes has broadly decreased, but the frequency of frosts has stabilised since the 1980s in parts of inland south-western and south-eastern Australia, which have experienced substantial cool-season rainfall decline.
There is not yet a clear signal in the observed occurrence of most types of high-rainfall extremes, although there are indications of an increase in short-duration (less than a day) extremes (medium confidence). Extreme low rainfall has become more frequent in parts of south-western and south-eastern Australia that have experienced long-term declines in mean rainfall.
Related to United Nations Sustainable Development Goal targets 11.5, 13.1, 13.2, 15.3
The occurrence of dangerous fire weather, as indicated by the Forest Fire Danger Index, has increased over many parts of Australia during the past 50 years (high confidence). This has been particularly manifested as a lengthening of the fire season in forested areas of southern Australia.
The frequency of tropical cyclones in the Australian region has decreased since the 1980s (medium confidence). At a global scale, there is evidence of an increase in the proportion of tropical cyclones that are intense, and in the amount of rainfall associated with tropical cyclones, but no clear signal of these increases has yet emerged in the Australian region.
Greenhouse gas emissions in Australia have decreased substantially from their 2007 peak, largely due to the land use, land-use change and forestry sector, which has changed from being a net source to a net sink, and the increase in the proportion of Australian electricity generated from renewable sources. Emissions in other sectors, particularly transport, stationary energy and fugitive emissions, have increased. Emissions were relatively stable from 2013 to 2019 before a sharp fall in 2020, some of which was due to the COVID-19 pandemic and is likely to be temporary.
It is unclear whether the further fall in emissions required for Australia to meet its nationally determined contribution under the Paris Agreement (a 26–28% decrease on 2005 levels by 2030) will occur.
Related to United Nations Sustainable Development Goal targets 7.2, 13.2
Government policy, particularly at state and territory and local levels, is helping to reduce Australia’s emissions. However, Australian emissions are not declining at a sufficient rate to achieve benchmarks consistent with limiting global warming to 1.5 °C.
Related to United Nations Sustainable Development Goal targets 7.2, 13.2
There is good understanding of broad processes, and improving confidence in modelling projections at both the national and regional scales. The national greenhouse emissions reporting system is continuing to improve.
National targets for greenhouse gas reductions (26–28% on 2005 levels by 2050) remain unchanged since 2016. All states and territories, and some local governments, have set net zero targets by 2050 or earlier, as has the Australian Government.
Australian Government strategies relating to climate change have been broadly similar since 2016, although there have been some changes to specific programs. All states and territories now have wide-ranging climate change strategies, although many are only in the early stages of implementation. There is also substantially increased engagement by local government, often with support from state government, in planning for climate change. Local government is especially important in climate change adaptation since many of the impacts of climate change fall within their area of responsibility. Collaboration between state and local government in this field is substantial in most states.
Current and projected levels of success of national, and state and territory abatement programs suggest that 2020 targets (5% reduction below 2000 levels) have been achieved, even without including short-term reductions in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Australia’s nationally determined contribution under the Paris Agreement is for a reduction of 26–28% on 2005 levels by 2030. A further reduction of 6–8% on 2020 levels is required by 2030 to achieve an annual value in 2030 26−28% below 2005 levels, which will require a slightly faster annual rate of emissions reduction than that achieved between 2013 and 2019. A substantially increased rate of emissions reduction will be required to achieve net zero emissions by 2050 or earlier.