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Australia State of the Environment Report

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Topics

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

Topics

A topic is a specific issue or subject discussed in the report. Each theme discusses these topics in detail.

From this page you can use the filters below to refine a list of topics of interest to you, or, list all topics available in the SoE report.

Marine environment

Marine mining and industry

A wide variety of mineral resources exist within Australia’s maritime jurisdiction (Table MAR3). Mining of these resources, however, remains an emerging industry (AIMS 2014).
2016
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Relates to
Marine environment
Pressures
Marine environment

Marine oil and gas exploration and production

Australia has large reserves of gas and substantial reserves of oil, with extraction activities producing 79.4 million barrels of crude oil in 2014 (APPEA 2015).
2016
  • Read more about Marine oil and gas exploration and production
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Relates to
Marine environment
Pressures
Marine Temperate EastMarine South WestMarine NorthMarine North WestMarine South EastMarine Coral Sea
Marine environment

Marine regions

Six discrete marine regions have been identified under marine bioregional planning conducted in support of the EPBC Act: North, Coral Sea, Temperate East, South-east, South-west and North-west (Figure MAR2).
2016
  • Read more about Marine regions
Relates to
Marine environment
Introduction
TasmaniaMarine Temperate EastMarine South WestGreat Barrier ReefMarine NorthMarine North WestMarine South EastMarine Coral SeaIndian Ocean
Marine environment

Marine renewable energy generation

The marine renewable energy industry is an emerging industry globally.
2016
  • Read more about Marine renewable energy generation
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Relates to
Marine environment
Pressures
Marine environment

Marine vessel activity

International vessels operating in Australian waters mainly comprise large cargo carriers, but may also include smaller commercial ships, cruise vessels and international yachts.
2016
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Relates to
Marine environment
Pressures
Great Barrier Reef
Drivers

Mitigating the drivers of environmental change

Since the first SoE report in 1996, a great deal of effort has been focused on improving environment-related policies and associated management actions. However, these are often focused on reducing pressures on the environment.
2016
  • Read more about Mitigating the drivers of environmental change
Ambient air quality

Motor vehicles

Motor vehicles emit a wide range of pollutants from their tailpipes, and are a major source of nitrogen oxides (NOx) and carbon monoxide (e.g. Figure ATM30).
2016
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  • See Assessment Summaries
Relates to
Ambient air quality
Pressures
Ambient air quality

Motor vehicles

Motor vehicles are a significant source of anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in Australia, comprising some 90 per cent of transport CO2 emissions, which made up 17 per cent of Australia’s net CO2-equivalent emissions in 2015 (see ‘Sectora
2016
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Relates to
Ambient air quality
Risks
Ambient air quality

National air quality standards

The NEPC established national ambient air quality standards in 1998 as part of the National Environment Protection Measure for Ambient Air Quality (Air NEPM).
2016
  • Read more about National air quality standards
Relates to
Ambient air quality
State and trends
Heritage

Natural heritage

Australia’s natural heritage includes lands that are reserved in parks and other places, both listed and unlisted.
2016
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Relates to
Heritage
Outlook
Murray DarlingTimor SeaGreat Barrier ReefAntarctica
Biodiversity

New technologies, solutions and innovations

Improved tools and technical advances are becoming more available, sophisticated and cost-effective for biodiversity assessment, monitoring and management. The following are increasingly being taken up for a multitude of biodiversity monitoring requirements:
2016
  • Read more about New technologies, solutions and innovations
  • See Assessment Summaries
Relates to
Biodiversity
Effectiveness of management
Ambient air quality

Nitrogen dioxide

The major source of nitrogen dioxide in Australia is burning of the fossil fuels coal, oil and gas. In cities, the predominant source is on-road vehicle emissions. The standards were met at all compliance sites in 2010–14, and have not been exceeded since the early 1990s.
2016
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Relates to
Ambient air quality
State and trends
Greater Sydney
Ambient air quality

Nonregulated diesel engines, including shipping and nonroad transport

Nonroad diesel engines and equipment are used in a wide variety of applications, including rail transport, mining, construction, industrial, shipping and airport services, and can be high pollution emitters.
2016
  • Read more about Nonregulated diesel engines, including shipping and nonroad transport
  • See Assessment Summaries
Relates to
Ambient air quality
Pressures
Murray DarlingGreater Sydney
Heritage

Outcomes

The importance of assessing management effectiveness is well recognised for protected areas, but less so for other types of heritage (Leverington et al. 2010).
2016
  • Read more about Outcomes
  • See Assessment Summaries
Relates to
Heritage
Effectiveness of management
South Western PlateauAustralian Capital Territory
Overview

Outlook under a business-as-usual scenario

It is clear from SoE 2016 that some parts of Australia’s environment are not yet being managed sustainably.
2016
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Relates to
Outlook
Overview

Outlook under an 'improved future' scenario

An ‘improved future’ scenario for Australia’s environment would see innovation in policy, technical and associated management approaches to:
2016
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Relates to
Outlook
Overview

Overview of challenges to effective management

Without detracting from positive trends in some areas, successive SoE reports have highlighted consistent problems and trends for the Australian environment.
2016
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Relates to
Effectiveness of management
Overview

Overview of effectiveness of management of biodiversity

A key policy initiative for threatened species management since 2011 has been the development of the Threatened Species Strategy (DoE 2015b).
2016
  • Read more about Overview of effectiveness of management of biodiversity
Relates to
Biodiversity
Effectiveness of management
Overview

Overview of effectiveness of management of coasts

Coastal management in Australia uses a range of approaches by multiple levels of government. The majority of management is done by local councils and state governments.
2016
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Relates to
Coasts
Effectiveness of management
Great Barrier Reef
Overview

Overview of effectiveness of management of heritage

The most significant national heritage management initiative since 2011 has been the preparation and launch of the Australian Heritage Strategy (DoE 2015a), which, for the first time, provides a nationally driven strategic direction for heritage management across
2016
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Relates to
Heritage
Effectiveness of management
Overview

Overview of effectiveness of management of inland water

The Murray–Darling Basin Plan, which came into effect in late 2012, guides governments, regional authorities and communities about how to sustainably manage and use the surface waters and groundwaters of the Basin.
2016
  • Read more about Overview of effectiveness of management of inland water
Relates to
Inland water
Effectiveness of management
Murray Darling
Overview

Overview of effectiveness of management of land

In 2014, the creation of the National Landcare Programme merged the Caring for our Country and Landcare programs. This aims to streamline governance processes and coordinate investments from national to local scale.
2016
  • Read more about Overview of effectiveness of management of land
Relates to
Land
Effectiveness of management
Overview

Overview of effectiveness of management of the antarctic environment

Australia has improved various aspects of its human presence in Antarctica through improved waste treatment and repatriation, greater biosecurity screening of material transported to and from Antarctica, and successful eradication of cats, rabbits and rodents on Macquarie Island.
2016
  • Read more about Overview of effectiveness of management of the antarctic environment
Relates to
Antarctic environment
Effectiveness of management
Antarctica
Overview

Overview of effectiveness of management of the atmosphere

Australia has had national standards and goals for ambient air quality for almost 20 years: the National Environment Protection Measures for Ambient Air Quality.
2016
  • Read more about Overview of effectiveness of management of the atmosphere
Relates to
Atmosphere
Effectiveness of management
Australian Capital Territory
Overview

Overview of effectiveness of management of the built environment

In April 2016, the Australian Government released the Smart Cities Plan. The plan outlines the Australian Government’s vision for cities—metropolitan and regional—and how policy, investment and technology can deliver integrated long-term planning, targeted investment and urban policy reform.
2016
  • Read more about Overview of effectiveness of management of the built environment
Relates to
Built environment
Effectiveness of management
Overview

Overview of effectiveness of management of the marine environment

Many improvements to management frameworks across Australian Government, state and territory jurisdictions introduced since 2011, including the implementation of new national regulators, have had beneficial outcomes for the marine environment.
2016
  • Read more about Overview of effectiveness of management of the marine environment
Relates to
Marine environment
Effectiveness of management
Overview

Overview of resilience of biodiversity

Resilience is a key underpinning principle of biodiversity strategies at all levels of government.
2016
  • Read more about Overview of resilience of biodiversity
Relates to
Biodiversity
Resilience
Overview

Overview of resilience of coasts

The resilience of the coast varies markedly between areas and habitats.
2016
  • Read more about Overview of resilience of coasts
Relates to
Coasts
Resilience
Overview

Overview of resilience of heritage

Given that values are what distinguish heritage places from other places, the resilience of heritage places may be understood as their ability to experience shocks while retaining their heritage values.
2016
  • Read more about Overview of resilience of heritage
Relates to
Heritage
Resilience
Overview

Overview of resilience of inland water

Since 2011, environmental flows (managed freshwater flows in natural water systems, designed to maintain aquatic ecosystems) have contributed to the ecological resilience of the Murray–Darling Basin.
2016
  • Read more about Overview of resilience of inland water
Relates to
Inland water
Resilience
Murray Darling

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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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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.

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