The main pressures affecting the Australian environment today are the same as in 2011: climate change, land-use change, habitat fragmentation and degradation, and invasive species. There is no indication that these have decreased overall since 2011. Some individual pressures on components of the Australian environment have decreased (e.g. commercial fisheries), and there is evidence that some pressures have increased (e.g. dumped wastes in the marine environment and invasive species generally). The impacts associated with many, however, remain unclear. In addition, the interactions between pressures can result in cumulative impacts, amplifying the threat faced by the Australian environment.

A legacy of extensive land clearing and the current clearing policies in some jurisdictions continue to cause loss of biodiversity (including the loss and fragmentation of native vegetation). These factors also impact on soils, waterways and coastal regions.

A new and emerging pressure in the coastal and marine zones is the increasing amount of human litter, which affects coastal and marine ecosystems and food webs. Approximately three-quarters of the debris found along the Australian coast is plastic.

Australian average temperatures have increased by 1 °C since 1910.

Adverse human health impacts appear to occur at lower concentrations of air pollution than previously thought.

Population growth in our major cities, along with Australia’s reliance on private cars, is leading to greater traffic volumes, and increasing traffic congestion and delays.

In some places, natural, Indigenous and/or historic heritage values have been affected, including destruction of significant sites.

Rapid improvement in technology is likely to lead to significant improvements in our understanding of Australia’s species and genetic diversity. Improved tools and technical advances are becoming more available for biodiversity assessment, monitoring and management, including for organisms that have previously been difficult to identify and monitor.

In the past 5 years, land-clearing rates have stabilised in all states and territories, except Queensland, where clearing has increased.

Since 2011, there have been significant gains in the extent of Australia’s terrestrial conservation estate. The National Reserve System now covers 17.9 per cent of Australia’s land area, compared with 13.4 per cent in 2011.

Since 2011, there have been noticeable local improvements in water quality in the Murray–Darling Basin. In more populated regions, inland water quality is in moderate to very poor condition.

The state of Australia’s coastal environment is mixed, being largely good in the north-west and far north-east of the country, and largely poor in the east, south-east and south-west.

Coastal waterways are threatened by new classes of pollutants. These include microplastics and nanoparticles, which are largely unregulated and whose effects are poorly understood.

Most marine habitats, communities and species groups assessed for SoE 2016 are in good condition overall.

Generally, marine habitats and communities in the Temperate East Marine Region and the South-east Marine Region have been subject to higher historical impacts, such as bottom trawling impacts on shelf and slope communities, than in other regions.

The Antarctic environment is generally in good condition

The Antarctic environment is showing clear signs of impact from climate change.

Citizen science has rapidly increased, resulting in improved observations of the environment that, in turn, provide knowledge to support more effective management.

Areas in which the effectiveness of management of the environment has improved include management of the Murray–Darling Basin, commercial fisheries, shipping vessels, and offshore oil and gas operations.

Despite continued improvement, a number of key constraints on management effectiveness in Australia remain, including:

• lack of an overarching national policy that establishes a clear vision for the protection and sustainable management of Australia’s environment to the year 2050, which is supported by
  • specific action programs and policy to preserve and, where necessary, restore natural capital and our unique environments, taking into account the need to adapt to climate change
  • complementary policy and strengthened legislative frameworks at the national, state and territory levels
  • efficient, collaborative and complementary planning and decision-making processes across all levels of government, with clear lines of accountability
• poor collaboration and coordination of policies, decisions and management arrangements across sectors and between managers (public and private)
• a lack of follow-though from policy to action
• inadequacy of data and long-term monitoring, which interferes with our ability to apply effective policy and management, and establish adequate early warning of threats. For example, our understanding of even the most iconic and well-known species in Australia is often patchy, and sufficient knowledge of ecosystem processes that maintain the 99 per cent of species that account for Australia’s biodiversity is missing
• insufficient resources for environmental management and restoration
• inadequate understanding and capacity to identify and measure cumulative impacts, which reduces the potential for coordinated approaches to their management.

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. The first step is recognising the importance and value of ecosystem services to our economy and society.

Effective management of the Australian environment in the future also requires efficient, collaborative and complementary planning and decision-making processes, with clear lines of accountability; improved support for decision-making; a more strategic focus on planning for a sustainable future; and new, reliable sources of funding.