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SoE themes

• Atmosphere
• Biodiversity
• Coasts & oceans
• Human settlements
• Inland waters
• Land
• Natural & cultural heritage
• Australian Antarctic Territory

About State of the Environment (SoE) reporting

Purpose and objectives

The purpose and objectives of SoE reporting are to provide accurate, up-to-date and accessible information about environmental and heritage conditions, trends and pressures for the Australian continent, surrounding seas and Australia's external territories. SoE reporting is used to:

• Report on major causal factors that are influencing Australia's environment and heritage
• Report on the effectiveness of responses designed to address change
• Identify the issues most relevant to the sustainability of Australia's environment and heritage
• Contribute to public understanding of the state of Australia's environment and heritage
• Identify relevant gaps in information
• Further develop and improve the SoE reporting process
• Facilitate policy development at all levels of government

The national SoE report is the major mechanism in which resource management and environmental and heritage issues are comprehensively reported and analysed on scales that transcend State and Territory boundaries.

National SoE reporting is carried out at a continental scale on the land and also for coastal and marine environments, and includes Australia's external territories.

The environment and heritage is covered in eight major themes: Atmosphere, Land, Inland Waters, Coasts and Oceans, Biodiversity, Human Settlements, Natural and Cultural Heritage and the Australian Antarctic Territory.

The regular production of SoE information provides scope for changes in environmental and heritage pressures and condition to be tracked over the long term.

Background

Process for the National SoE reports

The then Minister for the Environment and Heritage appointed independent committees to oversee the preparation of each of the 1996, 2001 and 2006 SoE reports.

SoE reporting is based on a scientific assessment of the pressures and condition of the environment and heritage. The process of reporting is continually evolving. SoE reporting changes to meet the needs of the users, and as new technology enables information to become readily available and as knowledge improves.

Australia's international reporting obligations

Australia's membership of international organisations brings with it reporting obligations for various aspects of the condition of the Australian environment. Organisations include:

• Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development 
• United Nations Environment Programme 
• United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific 
• Convention on Biological Diversity 
• Framework on Climate Change Convention 
• Montreal Process for forestry reporting 
• World Meteorological Organization 

National SoE reporting

The National Strategy for Ecologically Sustainable Development (Objective 14.2) of December 1992 called for national SoE reporting. That led in part to the production of the first SoE report in 1996.

Australian Government legislation

Since 1999, Australian Government legislation mandates the preparation and tabling of the national state of the environment report in Parliament through the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (section 516B)

1. The Minister must cause a report on the environment in the Australian jurisdiction to be prepared in accordance with the regulations (if any) every 5 years. The first report must be prepared by 31 December 2001.
2. The report must deal with the matters prescribed by the regulations.
3. The Minister must cause a copy of the report to be laid before each House of the Parliament within 15 sitting days of that House after the day on which he or she receives the report.

States and territories

Most State and Territory governments prepare state of the environment reports on a regular basis, and it is a legislative requirement in New South Wales, ACT, Tasmania, Queensland, Victoria and South Australia. In New South Wales local governments are legislated to prepare regular SoE reports. More about State/Territory SoE reporting

Data and information management

Reliable data and information are key requirements for SoE reporting. Since 1996, there has been a significant investment by governments and improvement in the data available from many organisations. These include the Cooperative Research Centres , the National Land and Water Resources Audit  and the Australian Greenhouse Office.

The States and Territories are the major data custodians for much of the natural resource management data in Australia. However, there are still some important gaps in primary data.