A new approach was developed for Australia's 2011 national State of the Environment (SoE) report to integrate the assessment of biophysical and human elements of the environment. A Common Assessment and Reporting Framework (CARF) guided design and implementation, responding to jurisdictional complexity, outstanding natural diversity and ecosystem values, high levels of cultural and heritage diversity, and a paucity of national-scale data. The CARF provided a transparent response to the need for an independent, robust and evidence-based national SoE report. We conclude that this framework will be effective for subsequent national SoE assessments and other integrated national-scale assessments in data-poor regions.The work reported here was funded and supported by
DSEWPaC, and we recognise the high level of professional support provided by the DSEWPaC
SoE Team and other staff, the professional support of Biotext information consultancy (biotext.
com.au), the vision of the commissioning Minister for Environment Protection, Heritage and the
Arts (Peter Garrett) in presenting us with this challenge, and the support of the presenting Minister
for Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities (Tony Burke) in accepting
and delivering the final report to Australia