On 31 March 2026, TERN and the Australian National University released the 2025 Australia’s Environment Report, the eleventh edition of the annual assessment.
Australia’s environment scored 7.4 out of 10 at the national scale in 2025, marking the fifth consecutive year of above-average conditions. Despite this, lead author ANU Professor Albert van Dijk noted that climate change continues to inflict serious and accelerating damage on marine ecosystems while driving more species toward extinction.
Sea surface temperatures around Australia reached their highest-ever recorded level in 2025. Heat stress across 79 per cent of satellite-monitored reef locations exceeded their once-in-a-decade threshold — more than any previous year in the 40-year record — leading to a sixth mass bleaching event on the Great Barrier Reef.
The number of species listed as threatened under federal law has grown to 2,175, a 54 per cent increase since 2000, with 39 new listings in 2025. TERN’s Threatened Species Index shows reptiles have declined by 88 per cent and frogs by 67 per cent on average since 2000 — the steepest long-term declines of any group measured to date.
The report also includes — for the first time — detailed data on native forest loss and gain, showing forest loss has declined for five consecutive years with tree cover increasing nationally.
The full report is available at ausenv.tern.org.au.