Education and Training: During the past 10 years, the Australian population became more educated - between 1993 and 2003 the proportion of people aged 25–64 years with a vocational or higher education qualification rose from 45% to 55%.

Work: Since the last recession in the early 1990s the unemployment rate has gradually declined, and in 2003 was 5.9%.

National income: Australia experienced significant real income growth during the past decade. Between 1992–93 and 2002–03, real net national disposable income per capita grew by around 2.8% a year.

Financial hardship: Between 1994–95 to 2000–01 the real income of 'less well-off' Australians grew by 8%. But the incomes of better-off groups increased by proportionally more.

National wealth: National wealth, as measured in Australia's balance sheet, grew during the 1990s. Real wealth per person increased by about 0.6% a year between 1993 and 2003.

Productivity: In recent years, Australia has experienced improved rates of productivity growth. During the decade 1992–93 to 2002–03, Australia’s multifactor productivity rose 1.3% per year on average.

The natural landscape: Biodiversity cannot be measured comprehensively, however there is a concern that Australia's biodiversity has declined in the past decade partly encapsulated in a rise in the numbers of threatened birds and mammals. Land clearance, one influence thought to be reducing biodiversity, decreased by about 40% between 1991 and 2001. The area of land protected in national parks and the like increased.

In 2000, about 5.7 million hectares of land were affected by, or at high risk of developing, dryland salinity, a widespread form of land degradation.

Detailed national time series data are not available, but a variety of partial evidence points to a decline in the quality of some of Australia's waterways. In 2000, about one-quarter of Australia's surface water management areas were classed as highly used or overused.

The human environment: Australia's air remains relatively clean by the standards of other developed nations. The available indicators, such as the incidence of fine particle pollution in several cities, suggest that Australian air quality has improved during the past decade, despite increased motor vehicle use.

International environmental concerns: Australia’s total greenhouse gas emissions in 2001 were about 4% higher than they were in 1991. Per capita, we have one of the world’s highest levels of greenhouse gas emissions, although our per capita emissions are decreasing, as are our emissions per $ of GDP. Our heavy reliance on fossil fuel burning for energy (rather than other forms of power like nuclear or hydro-electricity), the structure of our economy and the level of land clearing; are three influences behind our high emissions.

Crime: Though small, the changes in the prevalence rates for personal crimes between 1998 and 2002 showed an increase from 4.8% to 5.3%. Most of these people were assaulted. Between 1993 and 2002, there was little change in the proportion of households that were the victim of a household crime (an actual or attempted break-in or motor vehicle theft) and it remained at slightly less than 9%.

Housing; Oceans and Estuaries; Family, Community and Social Cohesion; and Democracy, Governance and Citizenship: While no headline indicators are presented for these four topics, each contains a commentary that discusses a range of information and indicators covering progress in each area.