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.

References

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Kaineder A (director) (2021). Mourning Country (video), https://vimeo.com/540125563.

Keeley J & Syphard A (2016). Climate change and future fire regimes: examples from California. Geosciences 6(3):37.

Keith DA (2004). Ocean shores to desert dunes: the native vegetation of New South Wales and the ACT, NSW Department of Environment and Conservation, Sydney.

Kelly LT, Haslem A, Holland GJ, Leonard SWJ, MacHunter J, Bassett M et al. (2017). Fire regimes and environmental gradients shape vertebrate and plant distributions in temperate eucalypt forests Ecosphere 8:1–31.

Kenny B, Sutherland E, Tasker E & Bradstock R (2004). Guidelines for ecologically sustainable fire management, NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service, Sydney.

King A (1963). Report on the influence of colonization on the forests and the prevalence of bushfires in Australia, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, Melbourne.

King KJ, Bradstock RA, Cary GJ, Chapman J & Marsden-Smedley JB (2008). The relative importance of fine-scale fuel mosaics on reducing fire risk in south-west Tasmania, Australia. International Journal of Wildland Fire 17:421–430.

Kooyman RM (2020). Results of surveys and assessment of threatened rainforest species in the Nightcap Range including fire impacts on peach myrtle (Uromyrtus australis), and plot-based monitoring of nightcap oak (Eidothea hardeniana), NSW National Parks & Wildlife Service, Sydney.