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Historic Content you are reading content from a previous reporting year.

Showing 30 of 319 results

Sustained ocean monitoring

2016
Marine environment
Outlook
Report Content

2016 Marine environment Outlook Great Barrier Reef Responding to a changing and increasingly modified environment, especially one where directing or modifying the trajectory of change is...

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Sustainability and sector management

2016
Marine environment
Effectiveness of management
Report Content

2016 Marine environment Effectiveness of management Tasmania Great Barrier Reef Managing for externalities Climate variability and longer-term change Australia is a...

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Box BLT13 Can greenfield developments be sustainable? Case study: West Belconnen, Australian Capital Territory

2016
Built environment
Effectiveness of management
Case Study

The West Belconnen proposal is for the expansion of the urban area of Belconnen to encompass land that is currently assigned to broadacre and non-urban uses. It is a greenfield site and consequently is part of the ‘greenfields’ half of the Australian Capital Territory Government...

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Box HER38 Sustainable innovative urban design and Aboriginal heritage, East Leppington

2016
Heritage
Effectiveness of management
Case Study

Sydney’s recent greenfield land releases have seen former agricultural land released for housing development. The innovative approach taken for the East Leppington precinct (also known as Willowdale) involved Aboriginal cultural heritage management undertaken in line with...

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Some historical pressures on the marine environment are decreasing because of the implementation of sustainable management measures and new regulatory schemes

2016
Marine environment
Key Finding

2016  Management measures aimed at the sustainable development of commercial fisheries implemented during the past decade have decreased the number of fish stocks classified as overfished. Of 53 countries (making up 95 per cent of global commercial fisheries catches) assessed on the basis...

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Providing for a sustainable environment both now and in the future is a national issue requiring leadership and action across all levels of government, business and the community...

2016
Outlook
Key Finding

2016Providing for a sustainable environment both now and in the future is a national issue requiring leadership and action across all levels of government, business and the community. The first step is recognising the importance and value of ecosystem services to our economy and society.

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Introduction

2016
Introduction
At a glance

A healthy environment sustains our economy and wellbeing The environment provides significant intrinsic values to society, and many consider that the natural world has innate worth regardless of whether or not it has values that benefit humans. At a more practical level, the...

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Decoupling population change and economic activity from environmental harm

2016
Introduction
Report Content

2016 Introduction If managed well, drivers such as population change and economic activity can benefit sustainable development, particularly through technological and institutional innovation, and changes in human behaviour. Successive SoE reports...

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Increasing population

2016
Ambient air quality
Pressures
Report Content

2016 Ambient air quality Pressures Greater Melbourne Greater Sydney Globally, just over 50 per cent of the world’s population lives in cities; in Australia, it is 90 per...

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Economic growth

2016
Heritage
Pressures
Report Content

2016 Heritage Pressures Murray Darling Greater Melbourne Greater Sydney Heritage places are susceptible to loss of values through inappropriate...

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Outlook for the marine environment 2016

2016
Marine environment
Outlook
At a glance

At a glanceThe contribution of the marine environment to the economy is projected to continue to grow 3 times faster than Australia’s gross domestic product in the next decade. It is in Australia’s interest that our ocean ecosystems continue to bring economic, cultural and social benefits...

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Responsibility for the National Water Initiative has been disaggregated, and reform impetus has decreased

2016
Inland water
Key Finding

2016  The National Water Initiative is Australia’s national blueprint for water reform. It is a national agreement that represents a shared appreciation of the need to implement a strategic framework to achieve an efficient and sustainable water industry. During the past 5 years, impetus...

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Policies, tools and approaches that are potentially changing the outlook

2016
Outlook
Report Content

2016 Outlook The outlook described above has both positive and negative components, although the negative tends to dominate. This balance can potentially shift, by using a variety of policies, tools, approaches and resources that are being developed...

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Box HER24 The Great Barrier Reef-World Heritage in focus

2016
Heritage
Effectiveness of management
Case Study

Heritage issues have been prominent in the media and community debate in recent years. In particular, the consideration by the World Heritage Committee of potential inclusion of the Great Barrier Reef on the List of World Heritage in Danger in 2015, and the subsequent major coral...

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Box HER41 The ACT state of the environment report—heritage

2016
Heritage
Effectiveness of management
Case Study

Every 4 years, an independent state of the environment (SoE) report is prepared for the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) in accordance with the ACT Commissioner for Sustainability and the Environment Act 1993, by the Office of the Commissioner for Sustainability and the...

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Conclusion

2016
Outlook
Report Content
... our population and economic growth are environmentally sustainable. ...
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Overview of resilience of inland water

2016
Inland water
Resilience
Report Content

2016 Inland water Resilience Murray Darling Since 2011, environmental flows (managed freshwater flows in natural water systems, designed to maintain aquatic ecosystems) have contributed to the...

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Box WAT5 Ngarrindjeri Regional Authority wins the 2015 Australian Riverprize for Murray River basin management

2016
Inland water
Effectiveness of management
Case Study
... River prize ), Australia’s top award for effective and sustainable river basin management. The River prize ... have developed and implemented outstanding, visionary and sustainable programs in river management. The ...
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Box MAR11 National Marine Science Plan

2016
Marine environment
Outlook
Case Study

The National Marine Science Plan is a decadal plan that is designed to focus investment on the biggest development and sustainability challenges facing Australia’s marine estate, and the highest priority science needed to tackle these challenges to fulfil the potential of the...

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Processes

2016
Heritage
Effectiveness of management
Report Content

2016 Heritage Effectiveness of management North East Coast Greater Perth Greater Sydney Heritage management processes are assessed by considering...

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Traditional use of marine resources

2016
Marine environment
Pressures
Report Content

2016 Marine environment Pressures Marine North Traditional use of marine resources is defined here as activities (fishing, collecting, hunting and gathering) by the 2 Indigenous or traditional...

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State and trends of soil erosion by water and wind

2016, 2011
Land
State and trends
Assessment summary

Land State and trends Soil: Formation and erosion Year...

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Built environment: 2011–16 in context

2016
Built environment
Introduction
Report Content

2016 Built environment Introduction Greater Melbourne Greater Perth Greater Sydney Australia’s growing population—particularly in our major...

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Management context

2016
Land
Effectiveness of management
Report Content

2016 Land Effectiveness of management Murray Darling Tasmania Legislative arrangements for the management of public lands continue to be relatively stable, despite flux...

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Executive summary - Drivers

2016 Executive Summary

2016Globally, the human-caused drivers of change to the environment are demographic, economic, socio-political, scientific, technological, cultural and religious. In Australia, the key drivers of environmental change are population and economic activity. The extent to which these drivers...

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Overview of effectiveness of management of inland water

2016
Inland water
Effectiveness of management
Report Content

2016 Inland water Effectiveness of management Murray Darling The Murray–Darling Basin Plan, which came into effect in late 2012, guides governments, regional authorities and communities about...

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Improving management effectiveness

2016
Effectiveness of management
Report Content

2016 Effectiveness of management Managing the environment increasingly requires an understanding of how different pressures interact, and how management frameworks interact across different jurisdictions and sectors. It also requires sufficient...

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Heritage: 2011–16 in context

2016
Heritage
Introduction
Report Content

2016 Heritage Introduction Tasmania Timor Sea Great Barrier Reef Lake Eyre The SoE 2011 'Heritage' chapter concluded that...

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Assessment of effectiveness of heritage management

2016
Heritage
Effectiveness of management
Report Content
... Division of the then Australian Government Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and ...
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Introduction 2016

2016
Marine environment
Introduction
At a glance

At 13.86 million square kilometres, Australia’s marine environment is the third largest marine jurisdiction in the world (Symonds et al. 2009). It is home to a diverse array of marine species, including marine mammals and reptiles; more than 4000 species of fish; and tens of thousands of...

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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.

This site is a major undertaking to improve the usability of SoE information. We are grateful for the support of users in our ongoing efforts to improve SoE reporting.  Please report problems with the site via our feedback page.

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Acknowledgment of Country

We, the authors, acknowledge the traditional owners of Country throughout Australia and their continuing connection to land, sea and community; we pay respect to them and their cultures and to their elders both past and present.

© Commonwealth of Australia 2017-2018

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