Environment for Youth – Report for Young People

Acknowledgement of Country

We acknowledge Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, the Traditional Custodians of lands, waterways and skies across Australia. We thank you for sharing and caring for the land we learn and play on. We pay our respects to the Elders, and we share our friendship and kindness.

*White-faced heron.* Source: Ryan Colley.

About this website

Every four years, the ACT Commissioner for Sustainability and the Environment reports on the state of our environment, providing information about its condition and our progress towards sustainability.

This website summarises the latest report – the 2023 ACT State of the Environment Report – with a focus on what young people can do to help protect the land, water, air and nature in and around Canberra.

This website is mainly for high school aged students (years 7 to 10) and provides a teaching resource for educators. It includes ACT-specific information on:

Ngunnawal people’s knowledge and commitment to caring for CountryFor Aboriginal people, the term Country encompasses all living things and all aspects of the environment, as well as the knowledge, cultural practices and responsibilities connected with this. The term contains complex ideas about law, place, custom, language, spiritual belief, material sustenance, family and identity.
the role of the ACT community in environmental protection, citizen science, sustainability and climate action
the environmental impacts of Canberra’s growing urban area
circular economy and waste in Canberra
sustainability in the ACT including Canberra’s use of energy and water resources, and transport trends
how fire and climate change are affecting the ACT, and
the state of our air, land, water and biodiversityThe variety of all life and living processes in the environment..

The chapters in this website include a brief background to each topic, the latest observations and trends in the Canberra region, and ideas for what we can all do to help the environment in the ACT. The website also contains hands-on activities you can do at home or in the classroom.

Looking for primary school resources?

Our Environment for Kids website contains fun and engaging content across five environmental topics for students in Years 4-6.

Check it out for more games, online activities and hands-on learning!

Want to dive deeper?

For more in-depth information about our environment in the ACT, visit the full 2023 ACT State of the Environment website.

It contains more detailed discussion and includes more graphs, maps, infographics and case studies. You can also see the Commissioner’s recommendations to help the ACT Government improve sustainability and environment in the ACT.