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.

Reference

Backhaus T & Wagner M (2018). Microplastics in the environment: much ado about nothing? A debate. Global Challenges 4(6):1900022.

Karbalaei S, Hanachi P, Walker TR & Cole M (2018). Occurrence, sources, human health impacts and mitigation of microplastic pollution. Environmental Science and Pollution Research 25(36):36046–36063.

Rist S, Almroth BC, Hartmann NB & Karlsson TM (2018). A critical perspective on early communications concerning human health aspects of microplastics. Science of the Total Environment 626:720–726.

Oliveira M, Almeida M & Miguel I (2019). A micro (nano) plastic boomerang tale: a never ending story? TrAC Trends in Analytical Chemistry 112:196–200.