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Australia State of the Environment 2016 has been prepared by independent experts using the best available information to support assessments of environmental condition, pressures, management effectiveness, resilience, risks and outlook.

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Australia State of the Environment Report

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Acknowledgment of Country

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abandonment
Aboriginal sites
abstraction
abyssal plain
accessibility
acidification
adaptation
adaptive management
adaptive reuse
agriculture
air pollution
air quality
air toxics
airshed
algal blooms
amenity
amphibians
Antarctic Treaty System
Antarctica
anthropogenic
aquaculture
aquatic
aquatic ecosystems
aquifer
assets
Australia ICOMOS
Australian Capital Territory
Australian Heritage Council
Australian Heritage Strategy
Australian National Trusts
benthic
Biodiversity Conservation Strategy
biogenic
biomass
bioregion
biosecurity
biosequestration
biota
birds
blue economy
building codes
Burra Charter
Bush Blitz
bushfires
bycatch
Canberra
cane toad
carbon dioxide
carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2-e)
carbon pricing
carbon sequestration
caring for country
celebration
cetaceans
climate
climate adaptation
climate change
coal-seam gas
coastal development
coastal heritage
collaboration
Commonwealth heritage
Commonwealth Marine Reserve
community
community engagement
comprehensive
condition
connectivity
conservation
consumption
consumptive water use
contamination
Continental Shelf
cooling
coordination
coral bleaching
corridors
critically endangered
crown-of-thorns starfish
crustaceans
cryosphere
cultural and spiritual loss
cultural heritage
cultural landscapes
cultural sites
cultural values
culture
cumulative impacts
currents
cyclones
data and information
decoupling
deforestation
degradation
demersal
desalination
destruction
deterioration
development
dingo
diseases
dissolved oxygen
drainage division
dredging
droughts
ecological communities
ecological processes
economic growth
ecosystem
ecosystem processes
ecosystem services
ecotourism
education
El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO)
electricity
embodied energy
emissions
endangered
endemic
endemism
energy
entanglement
Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act)
environmental information
environmental watering
erosion
estuaries
eutrophication
exclusive economic zone (EEZ)
extended continental shelf (ECS)
extinction
fauna
feral cats
financial resources
fire
fire regime
fish
fishdown
fisheries
fishing
flood
flora
flow regime
food
food webs
forest
fossil fuels
foxes
fragmentation
Fraser Island
freshwater
frogs
fuel
funding
fungi
genetic
genetic diversity
geology
geomorphology
glaciers
grant funding
grazing
Great Barrier Reef
greenfield
greenhouse effect
greenhouse gas emissions
greenhouse gases
greenspace
groundwater
habitat
heatwaves
heritage assessment
heritage assessments
Heritage Chairs and Officials of Australia and New Zealand
heritage conservation
heritage identification
heritage legislation
heritage listing
heritage management
heritage overlays
heritage place identification
heritage planning
heritage precincts
heritage protection
heritage register
heritage trade skills
heritage values
high seas
historic heritage
historic shipwrecks
horticulture
hotspots
human health
human impact
human resources
hunting
hydraulic fracturing
hydrology
ice sheet
ice shelves
iceberg
impact assessment
impact assessments
incremental destruction
indicators
Indigenous
Indigenous access
Indigenous connection
Indigenous heritage
Indigenous interests
Indigenous language
Indigenous management
Indigenous Protected Areas (IPAs)
Indigenous rangers
industry
infrastructure
ingestion
innovation
intangible heritage
intangible values
intergenerational value
intergovernmental
Intergovernmental Agreement on the Environment
international
International Whaling Commission
interpretation
introduced species
invasive species
invertebrates
investment
irreplaceability
irrigated
islands
IUCN
Kakadu
kangaroo
key ecological features
kilolitre (kL)
Kyoto Protocol
lagoon
lake
land clearing
land use
land use change
land use conflict
landscape
lawful destruction
leadership
legislation
livability
livestock
local government
local heritage
loss of knowledge
loss of traditional knowledge
loss of traditional skills
Macquarie Island
maintenance
Major Vegetation Groups (MVG)
mammals
management
mangrove
manufacturing
maps
marine bioregional planning
marine debris
marine jurisdiction
marine regions
marine resources
marine species
matters of national environmental significance
megalitre (ML)
Melbourne
mesosphere
methane
microorganism
microplastics
migration
migratory species
millennium drought
mining
mitigation
monitoring
monitoring evaluation and reporting
Montreal Protocol
morbidity
mortality
Murray-Darling Basin
Murray-Darling Basin Plan
national
National air quality standards
National Clean Air Agreement
National Environmental Research Program (NERP)
National Environmental Science Programme (NESP)
national heritage
National Heritage place monitoring survey
national identity
National Landcare Programme
National Marine Science Plan 2015–2025
National Reserve System
national story
National Trust of Australia
National Water Initiative
native
native vegetation
natural
natural disasters
natural heritage
natural resource management (NRM)
neglect
New South Wales
nitrogen dioxide
noise
non-government organisations (NGOs)
northern Australia
NOx
nutrient cycling
nutrients
ocean
ocean acidification
ocean warming
OECD
offshore
oil
oil and gas production
organic
owner incentives
ozone
ozone depletion
ozone hole
ozone layer
ozone-depleting substances
Pacific
pack ice
Parks
partnerships
pathogens
pelagic
penguin
people-place connection
peri-urban
pesticides
pests
petrel
pH
photochemical
photosynthesis
phytoplankton
planning
plant
plants
plastics
pollutants
pollution
population
port
Port Arthur
primary production
protected species
protection
Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty
Queensland
rabbits
radiative forcing
rainfall
rainforest
Ramsar
Ramsar Convention
recovery plans
recruitment
recycled
Reef Trust
reefs
refugia
register of the national estate
regrowth
regulated
remote
renewable
renewable energy
representative
reptiles
research
resilience
resource
resource extraction
resources
revegetation
riparian
risks
river
rivers
rock art
ruins
run-off
sacred sites
salinisation
salinity
science
scientific
sea
sea ice
sea level
seabed
seabirds
seamount
seed
service industries
shipwrecks
smog
soil
soil quality
solar
South Australia
Southern Ocean
specialist skills
species
species diversity
species populations
state and territory heritage
station
step-change
storms
strategic direction
stratosphere
stratospheric ozone
stream
subsidence
Subsidiarity
survey
sustainability
sustainability
Sydney
Sydney Opera House
Tasmania
Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area
taxa
taxon
taxonomic
technology
temperature
terrestrial
The Burra Charter 1999
The Greater Blue Mountains
threat
threatened
threatened species
Threatened Species Strategy
threatening process
threats
threshold
timber extraction
tipping points
tourism
trade
traditional
traditional knowledge
traditional owners
traditional practices
traffic
transport
trigger
trophic
troposphere
tuna
turbidity
turtles
underwater
underwater cultural heritage
UNESCO
unlisted heritage
upwelling
urban
urban amenity
urban footprint
urban fringe
urban growth
urban infill
urbanisation
value
vandalism
variability
vegetation
vessel strike
Victoria
virus
visitation
volunteers
vulnerable
warming
waste
water
water access
water efficiency
water flows
water information
water levels
water management
water market
water quality
watertable
weather
weeds
Weeds of National Significance (WoNS)
Western Australia
Wet Tropics
wetlands
whales
wildfire
wildlife
wind
Working on Country
World Heritage
World Heritage in Danger
zooplankton

2016
2011

Atmosphere
-Ambient air quality
-Climate
Built environment
Heritage
Biodiversity
Land
Inland water
Coasts
Marine environment
Antarctic environment
Drivers

Introduction
Pressures
State and trends
Effectiveness of management
Resilience
Risks
Outlook

South Coast
South East Coast
South West Coast
South Australian Gulf
North Western Plateau
Murray Darling
Norfolk
North East Coast
South Western Plateau
Tasmania
Timor Sea
Marine Temperate East
Marine South West
Greater Brisbane
Greater Darwin
Greater Hobart
Greater Adelaide
Great Barrier Reef
Australian Capital Territory
Cocos Christmas
East Coast
Greater Melbourne
Greater Perth
Marine North
Marine North West
Marine South East
Marine Coral Sea
Lake Eyre
Greater Sydney
Gulf of Carpentaria
Indian Ocean
Antarctica

Report Content
Headlines and Key findings
At a glance
Assessment Summary
Case study
Graph
Maps
General content

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Increases in greenhouse gases

Planning and strategy

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Acknowledgment of Country

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