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

S

Santamouris M, Paolini R, Caccetta P, Kassomenos P & Khan HS (2021). Analyzing the local and climatic conditions affecting urban overheating magnitude during the heatwaves (HWs) in a coastal city: a case study of the greater Sydney region. Science of the Total Environment 755:142515.

Saunders DA, Mawson P & Dawson R (2011). The impact of two extreme weather events and other causes of death on Carnaby’s black cockatoo: a promise of things to come for a threatened species? Pacific Conservation Biology 17:141–148.

Seneviratne SI, Nicholls N, Easterling D, Goodess CM, Kanae S, Kossin J, Luo Y, Marengo J, McInnes K, Rahimi M, Reichstein M, Sorteberg A, Vera C & Zhang X (2012). Changes in climate extremes and their impacts on the natural physical environment. In: Field CB, Barros V, Stocker TF, Qin D, Dokken DJ, Ebi KL, Mastrandrea MD, Mach KJ, Plattner GK, Allen S, Tignor M & Midgley PM (eds), Managing the risks of extreme events and disasters to advance climate change adaptation: a special report of Working Groups I and II of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 109–230.

Sharpe L, Cale B & Gardner JL (2019). Weighing the cost: the impact of serial heatwaves on body mass in a small Australian passerine. Journal of Avian Biology 50(11):e02355.

Sharples JJ (2020). Submission to the Senate Select Committee into lessons to be learned in relation to the Australian bushfire season 2019–20, Parliament of Australia, Canberra.

Sharples JJ, Cary GJ, Fox-Hughes P, Mooney S, Evans JP, Fletcher MS, Fromm M, Grierson P, Mcrae R & Baker P (2016). Natural hazards in Australia: extreme bushfire. Climatic Change 139:85–99.

Sheldon F, Barma D, Baumgartner LJ, Bond N, Mitrovic SM & Vertessy R (2021). Assessment of the causes and solutions to the significant 2018–19 fish deaths in the Lower Darling River, New South Wales, Australia. Marine and Freshwater Research 73:147–158.

Silva LGM, Doyle KE, Duffy D, Humphries P, Horta A & Baumgartner LJ (2020). Mortality events resulting from Australia’s catastrophic fires threaten aquatic biota. Global Change Biology 26:5345–5350.

Smith W, Neale T & Weir JK (2021). Persuasion without policies: the work of reviving Indigenous peoples’ fire management in southern Australia. Geoforum 120:82–92.

Smith W, Neale T, Weir JK, Leavesley A, Carter R, Blair S et al. (2018). Intercultural collaboration on Aboriginal country, Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC, Melbourne.

Soderholm JS, McGowan H, Richter H, Walsh K, Weckwerth TM & Coleman M (2017). An 18-year climatology of hailstorm trends and related drivers across southeast Queensland, Australia. Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society 143:1123–1135.

Sonter T (2018). ‘Wattleridge/Kura Hill’ Aboriginal cultural heritage assessment, Banbai Enterprise Development Aboriginal Corporation, Guyra.

Southwell D (2020). Preliminary draft – design considerations for post natural disaster (fire) on-ground assessment of status of species, ecological communities, habitats and threats, report prepared for the Wildlife and Threatened Species Bushfire Recovery Expert Panel, Threatened Species Recovery Hub, Brisbane.

Standards Australia (2002). AS/NZS 1170.2-2002: Structural design actions – wind actions, Standards Australia, Sydney.

Standley PM (2019). The importance of campfires to effective conservation, PhD thesis, James Cook University, Douglas.

Steffen W & Hughes L (2013). The critical decade 2013: climate change science, risks and responses, ACT Climate Commission Secretariat, Canberra.

Steffen W, Hughes L & Karoly D (2013). The critical decade: extreme weather, ACT Climate Commission Secretariat, Canberra.

Steffensen V (2020). Fire country: how Indigenous fire management could help save Australia, Hardie Grant Travel, Melbourne.

Sullivan A (2020). Hazard reduction efficacy, implementation and impacts. In: Climate and disaster resilience: technical report, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, Canberra, 107–190.

Suncorp (2021). One house to save many, Suncorp, https://onehouse.suncorp.com.au/#explore.