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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.

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Authors and acknowledgements

Authors

Headshot of author Janice Green
Ms Janice Green
Ms Janice Green leads the team at the Bureau of Meteorology responsible for the preparation of the Bureau's national suite of water information products and services to fulfil its obligations under the Commonwealth Water Act 2007 as the national water information agency. Her specialist areas are in hydrology, hydrometeorology, and water resources assessment, and she has been influential in the development of methods and preparation of guidelines for the undertaking of analyses in the Australian hydroclimatic environment. She has worked as a hydrologist in the public sector, at both state and federal levels, in academia and in private industry. 
Headshot of author Bradley Moggridge
Assoc Prof Bradley Moggridge
Associate Professor Moggridge is a proud Murri from the Kamilaroi Nation, living on Ngunnawal Country in Canberra, he is a researcher in Indigenous Water Science (with qualifications in hydrogeology and environmental science) as well as part-time PhD scholar at University of Canberra, he was until June 2021 the Indigenous Liaison Officer for the Threatened Species Recovery Hub under NESP. He is the current Vice President Australian Freshwater Science Society and member of the Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists, and Governor of WWF Australia. Professor Moggridge has won several career awards, has presented widely and is on many committees – from local to international adding to his 25years in water and environmental science, cultural science, regulation, water planning and management, including policy development, legislative reviews, applied research and project management. Bradley hopes to encourage future generations to pursue interests in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathermatics), promote his ancestors' knowledge of water and mentor emerging Indigenous scientists.

Acknowledgements 

The authors thank the Bureau of Meteorology’s water and climate teams for their assistance with the supply of data, and preparation of maps and graphs. Thanks also go to Rob Braaten and Dene Moliere for their critical reviews of the report. 

The Indigenous author would like to acknowledge his Kamilaroi ancestors for caring for our Country for thousands of generations and hopes that through the state of the environment (SoE) findings we as a society can get our country back to health. With the inclusion of Indigenous authors in SoE reporting, the 2021 SoE is different from previous reports for all the right reasons. Huge thanks go to all the other Indigenous authors for their courage and knowledge in developing the chapters. 

Significant efforts of anonymous peer reviewers are also gratefully acknowledged by the authors, as are the support and assistance of the SoE team ‘buddies’ for this report, Mary Milne and Emma Hyland.