IN THIS ISSUE

The Land Account: Great Barrier Reef Region, Experimental Estimates, 2014 is the fourth Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Land Account and the first to demonstrate a method for reporting change in land use, rateable value and land cover. This publication provides statistics on land to inform decision-making, research and discussion about the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) region. For past Land Accounts produced by the ABS see: Land Account: Queensland, Experimental Estimates, 2013 (cat. no. 4609.0.55.003), Land Account: Victoria, Experimental Estimates, 2012 (cat. no. 4609.0.55.002) and Land Account: Great Barrier Reef Region, Experimental Estimates, 2011 (cat. no. 4609.0.55.001).

The data is presented in a series of statistical tables that show, for the GBR region and associated Natural Resource Management (NRM) regions, changes in both land use and land cover:

• Table 1 - Monetary account for land use (rateable value)
• Table 2 - Physical account for land use (hectares)
• Table 3 - Physical account for land cover (hectares)
• Table 4 - Land use net change matrix (rateable value)
• Table 5 - Land use net change matrix (hectares)
• Table 6 - Land cover net change matrix (hectares).

This release presents land use and value changes between June 2009 and June 2013, and land cover changes between January 2008 to December 2009 and January 2010 to December 2011. The objective of land accounts in physical terms is to describe the area of land and changes in the area of land over an accounting period. Generally, a country’s total area of land will remain unchanged from one period to the next. This release shows the opening and closing areas for different land types and additions and reductions in those areas over the accounting period.

While ideally a land account should use consistent, up-to-date and precise data is generally not always available. This account uses administrative data collected for various purposes. This should be considered when interpreting the tables. Further information on the data and methods used in this account can be found in the Explanatory Notes.

For further information on environmental-economic accounting please refer to the ABS Information Papers: Completing the Picture - Environmental Accounting in Practice, May 2012 (cat. no. 4628.0.55.001), What are Environmental Accounts?, 2008 (cat. no. 4655.0.55.001), Towards an Integrated Environmental-Economic Account for Australia, 2010 (cat. no. 4655.0.55.001) or the United Nations' System of Environmental-Economic Accounting (SEEA).


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