The third annual Biodiversity Concerns Survey reveals a growing concern among Australians about the state and future of nature. Findings also reveal that Australians recognise many of the key threats to nature and believe the government should increase investment and take stronger measures to protect it. This year’s survey, conducted in late 2024 with input from 3,559 Australians, examined major environmental policy challenges that state and federal governments will likely face in the upcoming federal election, as well as for many years to come. The results shed light on public sentiment and priorities, including:

Public concern for biodiversity

• 96% of Australians believe that more action is needed to look after the natural environment, with over half (58%) agreeing that ‘a lot more’ or ‘a great deal more’ action is necessary.
• The top three most concerning biodiversity issues amongst Australians are increasing levels of waste and pollution in the environment, the possible extinctions of native animals and the loss of natural places.
• An overwhelming 86% of Australians have expressed concern over the decline of native plants and animals in their local areas, highlighting that environmental concerns are both a local and national issue.

Conservation behaviours

• 88% of Australians feel that it is important to know that our environment is being looked after, underscoring a widespread recognition of the need for environmental care and responsibility.
• In terms of pro-conservation behaviours, the majority of Australians are inclined to spend time in nature, talk with others, and manage their gardens and pets to support biodiversity.
• 38% of Australians who are not currently engaged in advocating for nature are willing to. This increases to 45% when it comes to making big decisions like changing to a bank or super fund with green policies.

Information about the state of nature

• Most Australians rely on the news media to find up-to-date information on the state of the environment, followed by TV documentaries and information from friends and family.
• The most trusted sources of information about the natural environment are researchers and scientists along with environmental organisations.

Policy support

• A vast majority of Australians (95%) believe that more of the federal budget should be dedicated to nature protection.
• 3 in 4 Australians support strengthening environmental laws to protect nature and establishing national standards, indicating strong public backing for the government’s stalled reform of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act.
• Other policy areas that received strong public support included regulating native forest logging under national law, establishing a robust network of marine parks, protecting native species habitats from developments, and establishing new national parks.
• Australians rated the environment (50%) as the fifth most important policy area for governments, after the cost of living (76%), housing (54%), healthcare (54%), and the economy (52%).

Voter perceptions

• 77% of Australians believe that conservation issues will have some infl uence on how they vote in the upcoming federal election, with 30% indicating that conservation issues will have a strong to very strong influence.
• The majority of Australians do not think the Australian government is doing a good job protecting the environment, with 30% rating the performance of the current Australian government as terrible or poor, and another 38% rating it as average. Only 6% rated the government’s performance in protecting the environment as excellent.
• Less than 1 in 4 Australians place strong trust in any political party or candidate to protect the natural environment, however, undecided (swing) voters tended to have higher trust in minor parties (Greens) and independent candidates.

In terms of the policies that voters most strongly support:

• Labor voters most strongly support strengthening national environmental laws (82%), establishing national standards (80%), and establishing new national parks (78%).
• Liberal party voters identified establishing new marine parks (71%), regulating logging under national law (71%), and strengthening environmental laws (70%) as their top supported policies.
• National Party voters listed establishing national standards (65%), strengthening environmental laws (64%), and investing in science (64%) as their top supported policies.
• Greens voters strongly supported strengthening national environmental laws (86%) and establishing national standards (83%), protecting native species habitats from development (83%), along with establishing new national parks (82%).
• Swing voters indicated the strongest support for establishing national standards for the protection of the environment from developments (78%), establishing a network of marine parks (77%), and regulating native forest logging under national law (77%).