Australian Natural Resources Atlas

Natural Resource Topics

Rangelands — tracking changes 2001

Australian Collaborative Rangeland Information System
National Land and Water Resources Audit, 2001
ISBN: 0 642 37114 8

Tracking Changes - Appendix 3. Land Tenure Changes

Land tenure changes in Australia's rangelands since 1955 (km2). Total area of rangelands on which these figures are based is 5,545,314 km2.

Classes of tenure 1955 1965 1975 1985 1995 1999
State-owned crown land with assigned uses (transport corridor, stock routes) 72,314 72,345 68,407 60,712 58,686 58,236
State-owned crown land with no assigned uses 1,622,623 1,217,053 1,103,368 938,075 807,460 804,167
Defence reserve 225,404 257,431 124,339 129,685 129,617 129,617
Freehold land (non-Indigenous) 539,615 538,998 538,322 532,370 525,296 525,272
Non-Indigenous pastoral lease** 2,709,187 2,895,721 2,931,060 2,844,063 2,698,722 2,661,706
Indigenous pastoral lease** 2,754 17,041 55,590 46,635 102,130 109,347
Indigenous land* 344,409 437,571 584,276 708,130 815,516 815,857
National parks (proclaimed and gazetted) 1,399 10,529 27,909 80,174 143,413 156,982
Conservation lands (not gazetted) 22,341 91,995 100,138 184,136 225,268 244,905
Forested areas (State forest, forest reserve) 4,075 5,409 10,511 19,349 32,787 32,787
Other reserves (hunting, historical, heritage) 759 786 835 877 2,454 2,473
Water reserves (wetlands, storages) 309 309 432 981 3,759 3,759
Marine reserves 254 254 254 254 334 334

* This broad class incorporates a range of tenure types including Indigenous land that was administered by the Crown (States) until the 1970s for Western Australia, South Australia, and Northern Territory, the 1980s for New South Wales and the 1990s for Queensland. Although instances of Crown administration still exist, most are now administered or owned by Indigenous land trusts, land councils or Indigenous local governments. In some instances, historical data erroneously referred to large areas as Indigenous freehold land.

** Indigenous pastoral lease and non-Indigenous pastoral lease are the same tenure. These have been subdivided as requested by the Indigenous Land Council to fully display the scope of Indigenous holdings and management in Australia's rangelands.