Protected areas of Australia include Commonwealth and off-shore protected areas managed by the Australian government, as well as protected areas within each of the six states of Australia and two self-governing territories, the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory, which are managed by the eight state and territory governments.
As of May 2025[update] protected areas cover 173,493,468km2 (66,986,202sqmi) of Australia's land area, or about 22.57% of the total land area. The Australian Capital Territory has the highest level of protection at nearly 56% of its territory, followed by Tasmania with 43% and Western Australia with 31%. The lowest level of protection is in Queensland and New South Wales with 9.36% and 10.44% respectively.[1] Of all protected areas, two-thirds are considered strictly protected (IUCN categories I to IV), and the rest is mostly managed resources protected area (IUCN category VI).[citation needed] Around 38% of the protected area in Australia is publicly owned and managed by the Australian government or state and territory governments. The largest component of protected areas are the Indigenous Protected Areas, at over 49% and growing as of February 2022[update].[1]
Protected areas managed by the Australian government
The following list shows only the Commonwealth and off-shore protected areas that are managed by the Australian government which represents a small portion of all protected areas located in Australia. Each state and territory is responsible for the management of the protected areas under its jurisdiction with exception to protected areas such as the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park in the Northern Territory. The majority of Australian protected areas are managed by the state and territory governments.
National Parks
The following protected areas which are designated as national parks are managed by the Australian government and in some instances in conjunction with indigenous land owners:[2]
In addition to the Coral Sea CMR[15] and the Heard Island and McDonald Islands CMR,[16] there are a further 57 Commonwealth marine reserves grouped into 5 geographical regions called Commonwealth marine reserve networks:
An Indigenous Protected Area (IPA) is a class of protected area formed by agreement with Indigenous Australians and formally recognised by the Australian government as being part of the National Reserve System. As of April 2020[update] there are 93 IPAs occupying about 106,000,000 hectares (260,000,000 acres) and comprising more than 49% of the National Reserve System.[25]
