Wildlife Australia Magazine

AUSTRALIA-WIDE there are some very bright wildlife conservation tales being told.
Long-term conservation wins should be celebrated for they are building Australia’s genuine wealth. Which brings us to the latest Federal Budget and its negative environmental funding trajectory, gleaned from Biodiversity Council of Australia’s comprehensive research.
Biodiversity Council researchers Lis Ashby and Jaana Dielenberg found that overall the 2026–27 Federal Budget “continues the chronic underfunding of nature in Australia”.
Scientists have calculated that Australian Government investment in nature needs to be lifted to 1% of the budget to meet commitments to prevent further extinctions of native plants and animals, restore 30% of Australia’s degraded lands, and conserve 30% of Australia’s land and sea areas by 2030.
The proportion of the Federal Budget allocated to on-ground nature programs has remained at 0.06% of the budget, or just $1 for nature out of every $1,667 of Budget spend.
The total commitment for on-ground nature-focused programs for the 2026–27 year is $496 million, compared with an actual spend of $518m in the 2025–26 year. Accounting for inflation, in real terms this is a 9% reduction.
The amount committed declines further in future years, falling to $323m in 2028–29. After allowing for inflation, this is an almost halving (-46%) of on-ground biodiversity investment, reducing nature’s share to less than 0.04% of the Federal Budget.
The largest single source of funding for on-ground biodiversity programs is the Natural Heritage Trust (NHT), with funding falling to $50m (-19%) below the 2025–26 level from 2028–29.
“The increase in funding for on-ground nature-focused programs that scientists and conservation groups have been calling for has not occurred,” Ashby and Dielenberg lamented. “Nature underpins Australia’s economy and wellbeing, yet the government is still failing to adequately invest in its recovery.