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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

Showing results 11 - 20 of 35
Figure 11 Jenolan Karst Conservation Reserve after the extreme events of 2020
Figure 12 Priority management actions identified to improve the protection of Australia’s geoheritage
Figure 13 Total number of historic heritage listed sites on state and territory statutory registers, end June 2020
Bar graph showing that Tasmania has the most listed sites – around 5 thousand – with Victoria and South Australia next at around 2 thousand 3 hundred.

ACT = Australian Capital Territory; NSW = New South Wales; NT = Northern Territory; Qld = Queensland; SA = South Australia; Tas = Tasmania; Vic = Victoria; WA = Western Australia

Notes:

  1. Figures for the ACT and the NT include a small number of Indigenous and natural places.
  2. The Tasmanian Heritage Register is significantly larger than other state heritage registers because it includes many local places as a result of the mass listing that occurred when the register was created.

Source: McConnell (2021d)

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Figure 14 Number of historic heritage places added annually to state and territory statutory registers, June 2016 to June 2020
Bar graph showing that since 2015, Queensland and New South Wales have added the most historic heritage placed, -- between 80 and 90.

ACT = Australian Capital Territory; NSW = New South Wales; NT = Northern Territory; Qld = Queensland; SA = South Australia; Tas = Tasmania; Vic = Victoria; WA = Western Australia

Note: The figures for the ACT and the NT include a small number of Indigenous and natural places.

Source: McConnell (2021d)

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For more information, go toHistoric heritage
Figure 15 Number of underwater cultural heritage sites protected under Commonwealth legislation and state and Northern Territory legislation, 30 June 2020
Bar graph showing that of the states, New South Wales has the most underwater heritage sites by far, at over 2000. However, many such sites are federal responsibilities.

DAWE = Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment; NSW = New South Wales; NT = Northern Territory; Qld = Queensland; SA = South Australia; Tas = Tasmania; Vic = Victoria; WA = Western Australia

Note: These figures are approximate, as they are taken from the Australasian Underwater Cultural Heritage Database, and from state and territory heritage agencies with responsibility for underwater cultural heritage, and there may be overlaps and omissions. They do not necessarily reflect the number of sites on individual UCH databases, which may include many more sites. The NSW figure is extremely high because it includes coastal waters that overlap with Commonwealth waters.

Source: McConnell (2021d)

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For more information, go toHistoric heritage
Figure 16 Number of underwater cultural heritage sites added each year to state and territory statutory databases and registers, June 2016 to June 2020
Bar graph showing that New South Wales has added the most sites since 2016 – over 200 00 with the next-most added by the Northern Territory at around 50.

DAWE = Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment; NSW = New South Wales; NT = Northern Territory; Qld = Queensland; SA = South Australia; Tas = Tasmania; Vic = Victoria; WA = Western Australia

Note: These figures are approximate, as they are taken from the Australasian Underwater Cultural Heritage Database, and from state and territory heritage agencies with responsibility for underwater cultural heritage, and there may be overlaps and omissions.

Source: McConnell (2021d)

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For more information, go toHistoric heritage
Figure 17 The wreck of the PS Rodney
Figure 18 Part of the Australian Antarctic Division heritage collection, Kingston, Tasmania
Figure 19 Pressures that are identified as having the greatest impact on historic heritage (including survival, condition and integrity)
The strongest pressures were considered to be 1. Inadequate resourcing for heritage conservation/management and 2. Extreme weather events.

Note: Ranking is based on aggregating the survey respondents’ 5 pressures identified as having the greatest impact on historic heritage. A value of ‘1’ is allocated to each identification.

Source: McConnell (2021a)

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Go to data.gov
For more information, go toHistoric heritage
Figure 20 Lake Burley Griffin’s West Basin, showing the start of infill and redevelopment, February 2021