Australia's Clearing-House Mechanism

Cross-cutting issue 12: Indicators

Between 1997 and 2002, Australia produced its first comprehensive National Land and Water Resources Audit, allowing the Government to quantitatively gauge Australia's progress in combating environmental degradation and monitor biodiversity trends for years to come. Under the Government's Natural Resource Management programmes, a set of Resource Condition Indicators is under development. These indicators will be used to measure the performance of investments made under the Natural Heritage Trust (NHT) and the National Action Plan for Salinity and Water Quality (NAP), and will allow regional bodies to make decisions about the type of monitoring likely to be required at a regional scale. A set of indicators of sustainable forest management has been developed as part of Australia’s commitment to the Montreal Process Australia supports a coordinated approach to indicator development across the Convention's programmes of work.

Australian Government

• National Objectives and Targets for Biodiversity Conservation 2001-2005
• Developing Outcome-based Performance Indicators for Natural Resource Management
• Are We Sustaining Australia? - Report Against Headline Sustainability Indicators
• Natural Resource Management, Monitoring, Evaluation, Standards and Targets
• Criteria and Indicators for Sustainable Forest Management

State and territory governments

• South Australia, Environment and Sustainability Indicators
• Tasmania, Index of Biodiversity Indicators

Research organisations

• A Guidebook to Environmental Indicators (CSIRO)
• Coastal CRC Search - Indicators in Environmental Management