National Land Account, Experimental Estimates methodology

Latest release
Reference period
2016
Released
22/06/2021
Next release Unknown
First release

The National Land Account is produced by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) and released under the Common national approach to environmental-economic accounting in Australia. These experimental estimates have been developed in collaboration with the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment (DAWE) and Geoscience Australia (GA), including their respective internal research areas: Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES) and Digital Earth Australia (DEA).

Concepts

This account is part of a suite of environmental-economic accounts produced by the ABS based on the United Nations System of Environmental-Economic Accounting (SEEA). The SEEA framework extends the boundaries of the System of National Accounts (SNA) framework to include environmental resources, which occur outside economic production boundaries measured by the SNA.

The SEEA Central Framework (SEEA CF) uses a systematic approach to organise environmental and economic information. It covers, as completely as possible, the stocks and flows relevant for analysis of environmental and economic issues. This framework applies accounting concepts, structures, rules and principles of the SNA. Environmental-economic accounts deliver important extensions to SNA accounts. These accounts may include physical supply and use tables, functional accounts (such as environmental expenditure accounts), and asset accounts for natural resources.

For this account the physical asset and matrix tables align with the SEEA CF where possible. Where data is unavailable to complete the tables, 'na' has been used to maintain the SEEA account framework. The inclusion of land cover, land use and land value (monetary asset) are standard to the SEEA CF. Land tenure is of particular interest to the Australian community and is included in these accounts.

Scope and coverage

Land use, Land cover and Land tenure are comprised of:

  • Physical asset account tables
  • Change matrix tables
  • Cross-classification tables
  • Statistical area level 2 datasets

Land value is comprised of:

  • Asset account table

The SEEA CF definition of land is:

Land is a unique environmental asset that delineates the space in which economic activities and environmental processes take place and within which environmental assets and economic assets are located.

The SEEA CF provides guidance for standardised asset account tables (physical and monetary) and change matrix tables. The ABS has previously experimented with land cover by use tables in state-based land accounts. Feedback has indicated that these tables provide improved data insights. Therefore, the ABS is including cross-classification tables (land use by cover, use by tenure and tenure by cover) with the September 2021 revision to this publication. While the land cover data are on a different temporal basis to the land use and tenure information, cross-classifications of all three datasets have been provided in this publication to show the potential in these data. Efforts are being made to bring these datasets into time-series alignment.

Change matrix table

The change matrix tables (tables 1.10 to 1.18, 2.10 to 2.18 and 3.10 to 3.18) show how characteristics of land transitioned between two time points. The rows of the matrix start with an opening stock position for the first time point and finish with a closing stock position for the second time point. The data in each column represents the net change between the two intersecting categories, that is the movements in and out of these combinations of classes. A positive change represents an overall increase in the land class and a negative change represents an overall decrease in the land class.

Using the data in the table below. Class 1 had 20 units in time period 1. Between the time periods, 10 units previously in Class 2 and 5 units previously in Class 3 transitioned to Class 1, resulting in a closing stock position of 35 units. You will notice that Class 2 shows a decrease of 10 units and Class 3 shows a decrease of 5 units where they interact with Class 1, as overall there should be no change to the total amount of land. Similarly, the total of all opening stock amounts will equal the total of all closing stock amounts.

Due to the volume of SA2 level data, Tables 8.2, 8.4 and 8.6 present the change matrix information in a flat line. These data can be converted into a change matrix table by taking each class block and making that a row in a table like the table shown above.

Change matrix table
Class 1Class 2Class 3
Opening stock203010
Class 1..-10-5
Class 210..7
Class 35-7..
Closing stock351312

Data standards and geography

The National Land Account data standards and statistical geography was developed to provide consistency in data development approaches and facilitate alignment of input datasets to produce account ready datasets. These steps spatially enable the compilation, analysis and interpretation of the National Land Account. The data standards and statistical geography sections outline dataset specifications and linkages to the geographic boundary for the National Land Account and sub-national reporting areas.

Data standards

The National Land Account data specifications are as follows:

  • Format: raster
  • Cell resolution: 250m (also referred to as the Basic Spatial Unit, BSU)
  • Coordinate system: GDA94 datum with Australia Albers EPSG3577 projection

                   aulx: -2189542.25149

                   auly: -1047686.305317

                   alrx: 2468707.74851

                   alry: -4964936.305317

  • Attribution or resampling rule: categorical data by mode (GA) or maximum combined area (ABARES), numerical data by bilinear rule, nearest neighbour for reprojection and sub setting
  • Boundary cell rule: included if the raster cell centroid is within the boundary, excluded if the centroid is not within the boundary.

Statistical geography

  • National Land Account boundary

The national geographic boundary that the National Land Account is being compiled to represent. This is the geographic extent of Australia, excluding external territories and islands, as shown in the Australian Statistical Geographic Standard (ASGS, 2016 version). The 2016 ASGS boundaries were converted to a 250m grid format for use in this publication. Further, many versions and resolutions of national, state and territory boundaries exist in the public domain. Each version will ultimately also provide a slightly different aggregated national, state and territory area. Resampling from the original dataset resolutions to match the resolution of coarser resolution data will impact aggregated area totals. The DEA land cover products are developed at a 25m resolution, requiring resampling to match the ABARES land use and tenure datasets with a resolution of 250m.  

  • State and Territory boundaries

The sub-national geographic boundaries that the state and territory breakdowns are being compiled to represent. These are the geographic extents of the states and territories, as shown in the ASGS. There are 8 states and territories: Queensland, New South Wales (including Jervis Bay), Australian Capital Territory, Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia, Western Australia and the Northern Territory. The 2016 ASGS boundaries were converted to a 250m grid format for use in this publication.

  • Statistical area level 2

Further sub-national geographic boundaries that regional/local breakdowns are being compiled to represent[AC1] . There are over 2200 Statistical Area Level 2 (SA2) areas defined in the 2016 ASGS. SA2s are designed to reflect functional areas that represent a community that interacts together socially and economically. They consider suburb and locality boundaries to improve the geographic coding of data to these areas, and in major urban areas, SA2s often reflect one or more related suburbs. The SA2 is the smallest area for the release of many ABS statistics. A selection of socio-economic data at the SA2 level have been included with this release to enhance the usability of the land information. SA2s generally have a population range of 3,000 to 25,000 persons and have an average population of about 10,000 persons. The SA2 boundaries were converted to a 250m grid format for use in this publication. 

 

Data sources

Land use data

ABARES land use and associated land use change

Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES) is the research arm of DAWE. ABARES works in partnership through the Australian Collaborative Land Use and Management Program (ACLUMP) to develop nationally consistent land use information for Australia. This work is overseen by the National Committee for Land Use and Management Information (NCLUMI).

ABARES has produced annual classification and change spatial land use products for the financial years 2010-11 and 2015-16. The spatial products are consistent with the BSU raster format as required in the National Land Account data standards and statistical geography. 

The spatial mapping utilises the nationally standardised Australian Land Use and Management (ALUM) Classification (version 8), jurisdictional land use spatial products and agricultural commodity modelling based on the ABS Agricultural Census. The spatial products are in raster format with a 250m resolution. The smallest unit of measure is 6.25 hectares. Classes with small estimates are less reliable and should be used with caution. Information on the spatial data and the latest version of the land use data can be found on the ABARES website.

Land cover data

DEA land cover and associated land cover change

Digital Earth Australia (DEA) is a research area within GA, Australia’s public sector geoscience organisation.

The data source used to compile the land cover physical asset tables is the DEA land cover spatial products. The DEA platform uses spatial data and images recorded by satellites orbiting our planet to detect physical changes across Australia. The DEA land cover spatial products provide consistent, continental, annual land cover classifications for Australia. The classification is based on the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) Land Cover Classification System (LCCS, version 2), a globally accepted land cover classification standard. The spatial products in the National Land Account have been resampled to a 250m resolution to be consistent with the chosen BSU raster format in accordance with data standards and statistical geography. Account ready data have been provided by GA and DEA for the 2010 and 2015 calendar years. 

Land tenure data

ABARES land tenure and associated land tenure change

ABARES has produced spatial tenure products for the financial years 2010-11 and 2015-16. The spatial products are consistent with the BSU raster format as required in the National Land Account data standards and statistical geography.

The methodology combines jurisdictional land title information from digital cadastre databases and other sources into a national classification. The spatial products are in raster format with a 250m resolution. The smallest unit of measure is 6.25 hectares. Classes with small estimates are less reliable and should be used with caution. More information is available at Land tenure of Australia 2010-11 to 2015-16, 250m.

Land value data

Land value data used in this release of the National Land Account are sourced from the ABS Australian System of National Accounts (Table 61, Value of land, by land use by state/territory - as at 30 June, current prices).

These data have been produced using modelling and input data from a range of sources including ABS public finance data, ABS value of residential dwelling stock data and state and territory Valuer Generals data. Further detailed information around methodology used is outlined in the Australian System of National Accounts: Concepts, Sources and Methods.

National Accounts land value data are available at the state/territory and national level. There are four identified land use categories - residential, commercial, rural and other. Data are released annually with a reference of as at 30 June each year.

For the land account tables the “other” category has been classified as “government” as these data pertains to publicly owned land. 2011 and 2016 data have been used as opening and closing stocks.

Related socio-economic indicators

A selection of socio-economic data on the same temporal time basis as the land data have been included in this publication. The source publication should be accessed to obtain definitions and other information on these indicators. The included indicators and their source are:

Census of Population and Housing

  • Number of employed persons
  • Number of unemployed persons
  • Number of persons in the Labour Force

Counts of Australian Businesses, including Entries and Exits

  • Number of businesses
  • Number of employing businesses
  • Number of businesses with turnover greater than $50,000

Estimates of Personal Income for Small Areas, 2011-16

  • Number of employee earners
  • Median age of employee earners
  • Median income of employee earners
  • Number of own unincorporated business income earners
  • Median income of own unincorporated business

Regional Population

  • Estimated resident population
  • Median age of persons
  • Percentage of population that are of working age
  • Population density

Classifications

The table structure for the land accounts is that outlined in the SEEA CF.

The classifications and definitions are specific to each table.

Land use

Land use reflects both (i) the activities undertaken and (ii) the institutional arrangements put in place; for a given area for the purposes of economic production, or the maintenance and restoration of environmental functions.

The land use classification used by ABARES is based on ALUM Classification version 8. This is a hierarchical classification across 3 levels and 160 land use classification types. For the purposes of National Land Account these classifications were condensed to 17 simplified land use classes based on guidance from ABARES. Table 1 shows the 17 simplified land use classes used in the land use tables and their concordance with the SEEA land use classes.

Concordance of land use classes between the National Land Account and SEEA
Land use class used in land accountSEEA land use class
Nature conservation1.5 Land used for maintenance and restoration of environmental functions
Managed resource protection1.5 Land used for maintenance and restoration of environmental functions
Other minimal use1.5 Land used for maintenance and restoration of environmental functions
1.6 Other uses of land n.e.c.
1.7 Land not in use
Grazing native vegetation1.1 Agriculture
Production native forests1.2 Forestry
Plantation forests1.2 Forestry
Grazing modified pastures1.1 Agriculture
Dryland cropping1.1 Agriculture
Dryland horticulture1.1 Agriculture
Irrigated pastures1.1 Agriculture
Irrigated cropping1.1 Agriculture
Irrigated horticulture1.1 Agriculture
Intensive horticulture and animal production1.1 Agriculture
1.3 Land used for aquaculture
Urban intensive uses1.4 Use of built-up and related area
Rural residential and farm infrastructure1.4 Use of built-up and related area
Mining and waste1.4 Use of built-up and related area
Water2.1 Inland waters used for aquaculture or holding facilities
2.2 Inland waters used for maintenance and restoration of environmental functions
2.3 Other uses of inland waters not covered elsewhere
2.4 Inland waters not in use
3.1 Coastal waters used for aquaculture or holding facilities
3.2 Coastal waters used for maintenance and restoration of environmental functions
3.3 Other uses of coastal waters not covered elsewhere
3.4 Coastal waters not in use

Land use class definitions

Nature conservation

Protected areas managed mainly for science, wilderness protection, conservation of specific natural features or species management. Also includes national parks, heritage agreements, voluntary conservation arrangements, registered property agreements, and recreation areas with primarily native cover.

Managed resource protection   

These areas are managed primarily for the sustainable use of natural resources. This includes areas with largely unmodified natural systems that are managed primarily to ensure the long-term protection and maintenance of biological diversity, water supply, aquifers or landscapes, while providing a sustainable flow of natural products and services.

Other minimal use 

Areas of land that are largely unused (in the context of the prime use) but may have ancillary uses. This may be a deliberate decision by the land manager or the result of other circumstances. The land may be available for use but remain unused for various reasons.

Grazing native vegetation

Land uses based on grazing by domestic stock on native vegetation where there has been limited or no deliberate attempt at pasture modification. Some change in species composition may have occurred. This class is used when there is greater than 50 per cent dominant native species.           

Production native forests

Commercial production from native forests and related activities on public and private land.

Plantation forests  

Land on which plantations of trees or shrubs (native or exotic species) have been established for production, or environmental and resource protection purposes. This includes farm forestry.

Grazing modified pastures

Land used for pasture and forage production, both annual and perennial, based on significant active modification or replacement of the initial vegetation.

Dryland cropping

Land that is under cropping but where no irrigation is used. Crops include cereals, beverage and spice crops, hay and silage, oilseed, sugar, cotton, and pulses.

Dryland horticulture

Land used for crop plants that are intensively cultivated, usually involving a relatively high degree of nutrient, weed and moisture control. Includes fruit trees, vine fruits, shrub berries and vegetables.

Irrigated pastures

Land used for irrigated pasture production, both annual and perennial, based on a significant degree of modification or replacement of the native vegetation. Includes irrigated woody fodder plants, legumes and grasses.

Irrigated cropping

Land under irrigated cropping. Crops include cereals, beverage and spice crops, hay and silage, oilseeds, sugar, cotton, and pulses and irrigated cereal crops which are cut for straw.

Irrigated horticulture

Land used for irrigated crop plants that are intensively cultivated, usually involving a relatively high degree of nutrient, weed and moisture control. Includes land under netting to protect crops from hail or birds.

Urban intensive uses

Land within urban areas with residential or industrial infrastructure. Includes manufacturing and industrial sites, urban residential areas and land allocated to providing commercial or public services resulting in substantial interference to the natural environment (cemeteries, sportsgrounds, land used by energy utilities, airports, railways). It also includes land which is zoned for urban residential development where houses or apartments have not yet been constructed but infrastructure, such as roads and street lights, is in place and it is clear that the intended land use is urban residential.

Intensive horticulture and animal production

Land used for intensive forms of plant or animal production often with special purpose improvements used for production. Includes nursery stock grown in containers, shadehouses or glasshouses, and animal sheds and yards. Also includes land used for cultivating fish and crustaceans (aquaculture).

Rural residential and farm infrastructure

Land within rural areas with houses and or other residential infrastructure with or without associated agricultural activity. Includes remote communities (less than 20 residences or buildings), farm buildings and other farm infrastructure. Rural residential generally refers to areas with blocks larger than 0.2ha located in a rural setting (away from the main urban setting).

Mining and waste

Land from which minerals, precious stones and coal is being extracted (open cut and deep-shaft mines, quarries and tailings dumps and dams) and land associated with waste disposal activities (landfills, incinerators, sewerage infrastructure and effluent ponds).

Water

Land used for water includes lakes (natural or human-made bodies of mainly static water surrounded by land), reservoirs and dams, rivers, wetlands and estuaries. It also includes artificial open channels which provide the supply, distribution or removal of water for irrigation purposes, or for a significant infrastructure function (such as salt interception, land reclamation, or drainage between water features for environmental management purposes). 

Land cover

Land cover refers to the observed physical and biological cover of the Earth’s surface and includes natural vegetation and abiotic (non-living) surfaces.

The land cover classification used by DEA is based on FAO LCCS version 2. This is a hierarchical classification that created 88 land cover classification types at 4 levels. For the purposes of the National Land Account these classifications were condensed to level 3 of the classification hierarchy to align more closely with SEEA recommended land cover classes.  Table 2 shows the Level 3 land cover classes used in the land cover tables and their concordance with the SEEA land cover classes.

Concordance of land cover classes between the National Land Account and SEEA
Land cover class used in land accountSEEA land cover class
Artificial surfacesArtificial surfaces (including urban and associated areas)
Cultivated terrestrial vegetated: HerbaceousHerbaceous crops
Natural terrestrial vegetated: HerbaceousGrassland
Natural terrestrial vegetated: WoodyTree/shrub covered areas
Natural aquatic vegetated: HerbaceousShrubs and/or herbaceous vegetation, aquatic or regularly flooded
Natural aquatic vegetated: WoodyMangroves
Natural surfacesSparsely natural vegetated areas
Tidal areaCoastal water bodies and inter-tidal areas
Water: PerennialInland water bodies
Water: Non-perennialInland water bodies

Land cover class definitions

Artificial surfaces

Areas that have an artificial cover as a result of human activities such as construction (cities, towns, transportation), extraction (open mines and quarries) or waste disposal.

Cultivated terrestrial vegetation

Areas where the natural vegetation has been removed or modified and replaced by other types of vegetative cover of anthropogenic origin. This vegetation is artificial and requires human activities to maintain it. In between the human activities, or before starting crop cultivation, the surface can be temporarily without vegetative cover. Its seasonal phenological appearance can be regularly modified by humans (e.g., tillage, harvest, and irrigation). All vegetation that is planted or cultivated with an intent to harvest is included in this class (e.g., wheat fields, orchards).

Herbaceous

Areas where the dominant vegetative cover is below two metres in height and woody canopy cover is less than twenty percent. These areas would be dominated by crops or, grasslands and shrubs.

Intertidal

Intertidal water refers to primarily non-vegetated coastal aquatic areas with systematic water variations.

Natural aquatic vegetation

Areas which are transitional between pure terrestrial and aquatic systems and where the water table is usually at or near the surface, or the land is covered by shallow water. The predominant vegetation, at least periodically, comprises hydrophytes. Marshes, swamps, bogs or flats where drastic fluctuations in water level or high concentration of salts may prevent the growth of hydrophytes are all part of this class. The vegetative cover is significantly influenced by water and dependent on flooding (e.g., mangroves, marshes, swamps and aquatic beds). Occasionally-flooded vegetation within a terrestrial environment is not included in this class. Natural aquatic vegetation habitats are defined as biotopes where the vegetative cover is in balance with the influence of biotic and abiotic forces. Semi-natural aquatic vegetation is included in this class, defined as vegetation that is not planted by humans but which is influenced directly by human activities that are undertaken for other, unrelated purposes. Human activities (e.g., urbanization, mining and agriculture) may influence abiotic factors (e.g., water quality), affecting species composition. Furthermore, this class includes vegetation that developed due to human activities but which has recovered to such an extent that it is indistinguishable from its former state, or which has built up a new biotope which is in balance with the present environmental conditions. A distinction between natural and semi-natural aquatic vegetation is not always possible because human activities distant to the habitat may create chain reactions which ultimately disturb the aquatic vegetative cover. Human activities may also take place deliberately to compensate for effects as noted above with the aim of keeping a "natural" state. Only mangroves are included in the current release.

Natural surfaces

Areas that do not have an artificial cover as a result of human activities. These areas include areas with less than 4% vegetative cover. Included are bare rock areas, sands and deserts.

Natural terrestrial vegetation

Areas where the vegetative cover is in balance with the abiotic and biotic forces of its biotope and includes semi-natural vegetation. Semi-natural vegetation is defined as vegetation not planted by humans but influenced by human actions. These may result from grazing, possibly overgrazing, or else from practices such as selective logging in a natural forest whereby the floristic composition has been changed. Previously cultivated areas which have been abandoned and where vegetation is regenerating are also included. The secondary vegetation developing during the fallow period of shifting cultivation is a further example. The human disturbance may be deliberate or inadvertent. Hence semi-natural vegetation includes vegetation due to human influences but which has recovered to such an extent that species composition and environmental and ecological processes are indistinguishable from, or in a process of achieving, its undisturbed state. The vegetative cover is not artificial, and it does not require human activities to be maintained in the long term.

Water

Areas that are naturally covered by water, either naturally (such as lakes, rivers, snow or ice) or artificially (due to the construction of artefacts such as reservoirs, canals, artificial lakes, etc). In the case of rivers, the lack of vegetation cover is often due to high flow rates and/or steep banks. In the case of lakes, their geological origin affects the life conditions for aquatic vegetation. The following circumstances might cause water surfaces to be without vegetation cover: depth, rocky basins, rocky and/or steep shorelines, infertile washed-in material, hard and coarse substrates. Areas covered by water for less than nine months of the year are classed as Non-perennial.

Woody

Areas where the vegetative cover is at least two metres in height and has at least twenty percent canopy cover. These areas would be dominated by shrubs and trees.

Land cover reason for change

Managed expansion represents an increase in the area of a land cover type due to human activity. For example, crop areas may be converted to tree-covered areas due to silvicultural measures such as planting and seeding, or tree-covered areas may be converted to crop or grassland following tree clearing. Generally, the managed expansion of one land cover type will also lead to the recording of a matching entry for managed regression of the reducing land cover types.

Managed regression represents a decrease in the area of a land cover type due to human activity.

Other expansions and regressions represent change in land cover type that cannot be attributed to human activity. That is, they are either natural changes or there is insufficient data to determine the reason for change.

Managed expansions and regressions and Other expansions and regressions were estimated using data in the Artificial surfaces and Cultivated terrestrial vegetated: Herbaceous classes. The assumption was made that changes to or from these classifications were managed changes, with all other changes categorised as other changes.  

Land tenure

Land tenure is the manner in which a party holds or occupies an area of land. It is a way of identifying who has the right to use and occupy land in accordance with the different types of ownership. 

Land tenure is a hierarchical classification across 4 levels and 22 classification types. For the purposes of the National Land Account, the level 3 classifications (condensed to 11 land tenure classes) were used based on guidance from ABARES.

Data relating to land under Native Title and other Indigenous leased land is not separately specified. These data are contained within several classifications including Freehold, Other Crown purposes, Other lease and Pastoral term lease. Some changes within the land tenure data may be due to a change in tenure of land held by Indigenous organisations. This topic is being investigated further, with the view that data relating to Indigenous land tenure may become available in future releases.

The SEEA CF does not provide suggested land tenure classes so a concordance is not provided.

Land tenure class definitions

Freehold

The highest form of land ownership. Land title is held in perpetuity. Includes land held by Aboriginal land trusts.

Freeholding lease

Crown land for which a party has bought a right to occupy the land but does not own the land outright.

Pastoral perpetual lease

Crown land leased in perpetuity for pastoral purposes.

Other perpetual lease

Crown leasehold land granted in perpetuity to an entity for non-pastoral or non-specified purposes.

Pastoral term lease

Crown leasehold land granted for a specified term of years to an entity for primarily pastoral purposes.

Other term lease

Crown leasehold land granted to an entity for a specified term of years for non-pastoral or non-specified purposes.

Other lease

Crown leasehold land where the purpose is specified as other or undefined.

Nature conservation reserve

Crown land set aside primarily for conservation purposes. Includes heritage reserves where specified.

Multiple-use public forest

Crown land set aside for multiple-use forest values such as wood harvesting, recreation, and environmental protection, includes state forests and timber reserves.

Other Crown Purposes

Crown land set aside for all other purposes including water, infrastructure, institutional, defence and other undefined reserves; or lands vested to, acquired, or purchased by the Crown or its authorised entities to deliver essential services.

Other Crown land

Crown land unallocated to a purpose or purposes.

Monetary asset account (Land value)

Land also constitutes an important component in the assessment of national and institutional sector wealth. Land is bought and sold in combination with physical characteristics (buildings, soil, trees) and the composite value will incorporate a value for the space itself (location) as well as a value for the physical characteristics.

The ABS has previously developed state-based land accounts using valuation data directly obtained from individual state Valuer Generals. For the National Land Account, data from the Australian System of National Accounts for the value of land has been used. These data have been produced using modelling and input data from a range of sources including ABS public finance data, ABS value of residential dwelling stock data and state and territory Valuer Generals data.

National Accounts land value data is available at the state and national level for residential, commercial, rural and other land use categories. The “other” category has been classified as “government” as the data pertains to publicly owned land. Data is available annually at 30 June. Data as at 30 June 2011 and 30 June 2016 have been used for opening and closing stock amounts. Data on the reasons for change (such as revaluations, reclassifications and acquisitions/disposals) are not available at this time and it is hoped this can be sourced as part of the future development of the account.

Glossary

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Additions to stock

An increase in the area or value of the stock of land. The change could be due to purchases of land for other uses, reassessment of land type or natural encroachment of other land covers.

Closing stock

Physical or monetary stock at the end of the reference period.

Hectare

A unit of area equal to 10,000 square metres.

Land cover

The observed physical and biological cover of the land surface and includes natural vegetation, inland waters and abiotic (non-living) surfaces. Coastal waters are excluded. The land cover is a function of natural changes in the environment and of previous and current land use, particularly in agricultural and forestry areas. The land cover classes included in this release are:

  Artificial surfaces

  Cultivated terrestrial vegetated: Herbaceous

  Natural terrestrial vegetated: Herbaceous

  Natural terrestrial vegetated: Woody

  Natural surfaces

  Natural aquatic vegetated: Herbaceous

  Natural aquatic vegetated: Woody

  Water: Perennial

  Water: Non-perennial

  Tidal area

Descriptions of these classes can be found in the Classifications section.

Land tenure

Relates to the nature of a person's, income unit's or household's legal right to occupy a parcel of land. The land tenure classes included in this release are:

  Freehold

  Freeholding lease

  Pastoral perpetual lease

  Other perpetual lease

  Pastoral term lease

  Other term lease

  Other lease

  Nature conservation reserve

  Multiple-use public forest

  Other reserve

  Other Crown land

Descriptions of these classes can be found in the Classifications section.

Land use

Land use reflects the activities undertaken and the institutional arrangements put in place for a given area for the purposes of economic production, or the maintenance and restoration of environmental functions. The land use classes included in this release are:

  Nature conservation

  Managed resource protection

  Other minimal use

  Grazing native vegetation

  Production native forests

  Grazing modified pastures

  Plantation forests

 Dryland cropping

  Dryland horticulture

  Irrigated pastures

  Irrigated cropping

  Irrigated horticulture

  Urban intensive uses

  Intensive horticulture and animal production

  Rural residential and farm infrastructure

  Mining and waste

  Water

Descriptions of these classes can be found in the Classifications section.

Land value

The value of the ground, including the soil covering and any associated surface waters, over which ownership rights are enforced and from which economic benefits can be derived by their owners by holding or using them. This excludes the value of any structures on the land. The land value classes included in this release are:

  Residential

  Commercial

  Rural

  Government

Descriptions of these classes can be found in the Classifications section.

Managed expansion

An increase in the area of a land cover type due to human activity.

Managed regression

A decrease in the area of a land cover type due to human activity

Net change

The change between the reference periods in physical or monetary units. The change can be positive or negative.

Opening stock

Physical or monetary stock at the beginning of an accounting period.

Other expansion

An increase in land cover type that cannot be attributed to human activity. That is, they are either natural changes or there is insufficient data to determine the reason for change.

Other regression

A decrease in land cover type that cannot be attributed to human activity. That is, they are either natural changes or there is insufficient data to determine the reason for change.

Reductions

Represents a decrease in the area or value of the stock of land. These changes could be due to sales of land for other uses, reassessment of land type or natural encroachment of other land covers.

Revaluations

Changes in monetary units due solely to valuation changes over the accounting period.

Abbreviations

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nanot available
..not applicable
ABARESAustralian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences
ABSAustralian Bureau of Statistics
ACLUMPAustralian Collaborative Land Use and Management Program
ALUMAustralian Land Use and Management Classification
ASGSAustralian Statistical Geography Standard
BSUBasic Spatial Unit
DAWEDepartment of Agriculture, Water and the Environment
DEADigital Earth Australia
FAOFood and Agriculture Organisation
GAGeosciences Australia
LCCSLand Cover Classification System
NCLUMINational Committee for Land Use and Management Information
SEEASystem of Environmental-Economic Accounting
SEEA CFSystem of Environmental-Economic Accounting Central Framework
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