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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

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.

Overview

Written by Dr Ian Cresswell, Dr Terri Janke and Professor Emma Johnston AO FTSE FRSN

Dhawurayina, ngurayina, gawarwarri ngaladji. 

Our Country, our Homeland, is always in our hearts.

Ngurawari, gawar dhawurangu wanggiralidjiny, winanganguru nimidjanguru. 

In our Homeland our hearts heed the Country, with strength and with health.

Ngunnawal Nation
The health and wellbeing of Country and people are connected. The world’s oldest continuing cultures, Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures, have held this truth for tens of thousands of years. In this report, Indigenous and non-Indigenous people have worked together to create the first holistic assessment of the current state of Australia’s environment.
Artwork by Gertie Huddleston
Key Findings
Find out the main messages of the report. Each chapter has 10 key points that summarise the findings of the chapter.
Start with Key findings
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Outlook and impacts
Where are we headed? Understand the future outlook, based on how the environment is tracking now and how we are managing it. Also find out how environmental change affects our health and economy.
Start with Outlook and impacts
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Environment
How are the different aspects of our environment and society tracking? Explore the overall condition of Australian land and seascapes, ecosystems, wildlife and communities.
Start with Environment
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Pressures
What are the pressures on our environment? Identify the main climate, human and industry pressures for our environment, and find out how they interact and affect both environmental outcomes and our own wellbeing.
Start with Pressures
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Management
How effective is our overall management of the environment? Discover the main environmental management interventions and actions, and how well they protect our environment and minimise the impact of pressures.
Start with Management
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Chapter resources
Find out about the chapter authors and their analysis approach, the artwork appearing in the chapter, and available supplementary material.
Explore Authors and acknowledgments
Explore Assessments
Explore Graphs, maps and tables
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Explore findings from Overview
In a rapidly changing climate, with unsustainable development and use of resources, the general outlook for our environment is deteriorating.
Immediate action with innovative management and collaboration can turn things around.
Indigenous knowledge and connections to Country are vital for sustainability and healing Australia.
Environmental decline affects the wellbeing of Australians.
Infographic showing that the environment – in this metaphor, a tree branch – can cope with 1 or perhaps 2 pressures (imagined as weights hanging on the branch). But too many pressures (weights) at once break the branch irrevocably. If we remove pressures before the limit is reached, things can recover.