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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.

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Authors and acknowledgements

Authors

Headshot of author Rowan Trebilco
Dr Rowan Trebilco 
Dr Rowan Trebilco is a Team Leader in the  Coasts and Ocean Research Program at CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere and co-leads the Environmental Change and Adaptation research theme in the Centre for Marine Socioecology at the University of Tasmania, where he is an Adjunct Senior Researcher. His research focuses on assessing status, trends, risks and opportunities for marine social-ecological systems and on developing strategies for climate change adaptation. He has worked across theoretical ecosystem ecology, statistical and mechanistic modelling, fisheries and natural resource management, in temperate, tropical, and Antarctic oceans.
Headshot of author Mibu Fischer
Ms Mibu Fischer 
Ms Mibu Fischer is a descendent of the Noonuccal, Ngugu and Gorenpul clans of Quandamooka. Ms Fischer is an early career marine ethnoecologist within the multi-use ecosystems tropical coastal group, in CSIROs Oceans and Atmosphere, having joined CSIRO as an Indigenous Cadet in 2009. She graduated from Southern Cross University with a Bachelor of Marine Science and Management before completing a Graduate Diploma in Natural Resource Management from Charles Sturt University in 2016. Ms Fischer is an Aboriginal scientist with engagement skills for strengthening partnerships between First Nations communities and the research sector. Her specific interests are around Traditional Knowledge (science) and management practices being considered within modern day fisheries, coastal and conservation management. She joins with other Indigenous and Traditional practitioners to strengthen the global indigenous voice and leadership in areas of marine research and coastal indigenous livelihoods. Her goal is to bridge a gap that draws attention to the indigenous communities facing the frontline of impacts and changes to coastlines, ecosystems and livelihoods from climate change impacts.
Headshot of author Cass Hunter
Dr Cass Hunter  
Dr Cass Hunter is a descendent of Kuku Yalanji and Maluiligal nations. She is an Indigenous social ecological research scientist with CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere in Cairns. Dr Hunter leads research on collaborative environmental design, usability and uptake of tools, research translation, and development of participatory tools to support sustainable livelihoods and ecosystems. For more than a decade, she has engaged with many inspiring Indigenous young people, rangers, leaders, educators and scholars. Her focus is on building our national and international networks of Indigenous practitioners to share and develop learnings to place Indigenous people at the heart of environmental and economic co-design and advances.
Headshot of author Alistair Hobday
Dr Alistair Hobday
Dr Alistair Hobday is Research Director for the Coasts and Ocean Research Program at CSIRO. His research focus is on investigating the impacts of climate change and extreme events on marine biodiversity and fishery resources, and developing, prioritising and testing adaptation options to underpin sustainable use and conservation into the future. He is former co-chair of the international CLIOTOP (Climate Impacts on Top Ocean Predators) program and is a current member of the steering committee for the international Integrated Marine Biosphere Research program (IMBeR). 
Headshot of author Karen Evans
Dr Karen Evans
Dr Karen Evans is a Team Leader and principal research scientist with CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere based in Hobart, Tasmania. Dr Evans is involved in research focused on progressing scientific understanding and developing options to improve marine resource management, particularly in relation to national and international fisheries and threatened, endangered and protected species. Her recent research has employed multiple disciplinary approaches to investigate the connectivity of shared resources and provide baseline information on the spatial dynamics of top predators in relation to human use and activities in the marine environment. Her projects deliver strategic research to national agencies, regional organizations including Regional Fisheries Management Organisations and international agencies, including the United Nations.
Headshot of author Linda Thomas
Linda Thomas
Ms Thomas is a Research Technician in the Coasts and Oceans program at CSIRO Oceans and Atmosphere. She has a background in marine geoscience and data management. Her work focuses on marine resources and ecosystem adaptation, both nationally and internationally, to a changing climate.

Acknowledgements 

This report is the product of a collaborative effort of the Australian marine science and management community and was only possible thanks to the voluntary efforts of all of the experts who contributed assessments and case studies, and those who peer reviewed them. The authors are sincerely grateful for these contributions.  

The following authors contributed to the expert assessments and case studies that form the foundation of this chapter: Franziska Althaus, Anindilyakwa Land and Sea Rangers, Karen Arthur, Neville Barrett, Simon Barry, Nic Bax, Jessica Benthuysen, Lev Bodrossy, Mark Brown, Cathy Bulman, Matthew Chamberlain, Scott Condie, Sean Connell, Claire Davies, Martina Doblin, Daniel Dunn, Piers Dunstan, Graham Edgar, Merrick Ekins, Mike Emslie, Christine Erbe, Ruth Eriksen, Jason Everett, Anna Farmery, Ming Feng, Beth Fulton, Marthe Monique Gagnon, Caleb Gardner, Connor Gervais, James Gilmour, Daniel Giltrap, Gustaaf Hallegraeff, Rob Harcourt, Britta Denise Hardesty, Daniel Harrison, Marcus Haward, Keith Hayes, Mark Hemer, Nicholas Hill, Rich Hillary, Neil Holbrook, Yuko Hood, Zhi Huang, Alan Jordan, Rudy Kloser, Matt Koopman, Haris Kunnath, Peter Kyne, Christine Lamont, Cayne Layton, Andrew Lenton, Scott Ling, Rich Little, Jeremy Lyle, Tim Lynch, Helene Marsh, Richard Matear, Paloma Matis, Rebecca McIntosh, Ian McLeod, Camille Mellin, Brett Molony, Andy Moore, Scott Nichol, Barbara Nowak, Faith Ochwada-Doyle, Emily Ogier, Tim O’Hara, Katie Oxenham, Sean Pascoe, Charitha Pattiaratchi, Kara Peach, Gretta Pecl, David Peel, Roland Pitcher, Alix Post, Zoe Richards, Anthony Richardson, Wayne Rochester, Karina Ryan, Stephen Schnierer, Qamar Schuyler, Colin Simpfendorfer, Bernadette Sloyan, David Smith, Joshua Smith, Claire Spillman, John Stewart, Rick Stuart-Smith, Iain Suthers, Jason Tanner, Erika Techera, Angus Thompson, Bronte Tilbrook, Sean Tracey, Kate Tropman, Geoff Tuck, Vinay Udyawer, Mat Vanderklift, Paul van Ruth, Tim Ward, Chris Wilcox, Alan Williams, Ashley Williams, Eric Woehler, Skipton Woolley and Liz Wren. Indi Hodgson-Johnston, Marion Wiltshire and Michelle Heupel also contributed text on the Integrated Marine Observing System. 

Experts who provided peer reviews of assessments and case studies included Penny Ajani, Franiska Althaus, Barry Baker, Kate Barclay, Neville Barrett, Nic Bax, Ian Bell, Jessica Benthuysen, Paul Brandenburg, Paul Branson, Nicky Buller, Ian Butler, Naomi Campbell, Nicholas Carlile, Andrew Carroll, Doug Cato, Savin Chand, Melinda Coleman, Remo Cossu, Kim Currie, Marty Deveney, Piers Dunstan, Mike Emslie, Christine Erbe, Francois Flocard, James Gilmour, Simon Goldsworthy, Rachael Gray, Sallyann Gudge, Malcolm Haddon, Peter Harris, Alistair Harry, Marcus Haward, Tom Holmes, Mark Holzer, Steffan Howe, Libby Howitt, Charlie Huveneers, Rob Johnson, Matt Johnston, Ross Jones, Stuart Kaye, John Keesing, Nathan Knott, Haris Kunnath, Emma Lee, Scott Ling, Rich Little, Jeremy Lyle, Mariana Mayer Pinto, Stephen Mayfield, Denise McCorry, Natalie Moltschaniwskyj, Sandy Morison, Yannick Mulders, Ryan Murphy, Mike Noad, Martin Ostrowski, Beatriz Peña-Molino, Irene Penesis, Vanessa Pirotta, Morgan Pratchett, Holly Raudino, Nick Rayns, Cath Samson, Kate Sanders, Megan Saunders, Kylie Scales, Amandine Schaeffer, Stephen Schnierer, Ben Scoulding, Ana Sequeira, Justin Seymour, Colin Simpfendorfer, David Smith, Tim Stephens, Andy Steven, Peter Strutton, Iain Suthers, Kerrie Swadling, Angus Thompson, Stephanie Thornton, Trent Timmiss, Tom Trull, Geoff Tuck, Tony Tucker, Ingrid van Putten, Adriana Vergés, Joanna Vince, David Wachenfeld, Kelly Waples, Tim Ward, James Webley, Thomas Wernberg, Scott Whiting, Louise Wicks and Bozena Wojtasiewicz. 

The authors would like to thank Dabu Jajikal Elders, Lizzie Olbar and Marie Shipton, for their time and expertise with contributing the language statement at the start of the chapter. We would also like to thank the many Indigenous practitioners from around Australia who contributed their learnings and views around sea Country management.  

Data for many of the expert assessments and case studies that form the foundation of this chapter were sourced from Australia’s Integrated Marine Observing System (IMOS), which is enabled by the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy. IMOS is operated by a consortium of institutions as an unincorporated joint venture, with the University of Tasmania as lead agency. 

The authors greatly appreciate the assistance of Emma Flukes, the National Environmental Science Program’s Marine Biodiversity Hub, IMOS and the Australian Ocean Data Network in facilitating the generation of metadata records and DOIs for each of the assessments and case studies in this report.  

We also thank all those who provided information, reports and papers to the authors, and those who provided constructive comments on the scoping paper associated with this report and/or earlier drafts of the chapter, particularly Cath Samson from Australian Marine Parks, Chloe Schauble from the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority and 2 anonymous peer reviewers. We are also grateful to Peter Cochrane for coordinating the feedback process with the SoE User Reference Group.