About Australia's soils

Soils are developed by physical, chemical and biological processes, including the weathering of rock and decay of vegetation. Soil materials include organic matter, clay, silt, sand and gravel, mixed together to form a natural medium in which most land plants can grow. The properties of soil are affected by the action of climate and organisms weathering the parent material over long periods of time. Along with these processes, influences such as topography and the type of parent material lead to the production of particular soil profiles.

Australia's agricultural landscapes support a great range of soils. As Australia's landscape is geologically old and stable it is deeply weathered, most soils are millions of years old, some with high levels of salt. Australian soils are comparable with other Gondwanan landscapes in Africa, India, and parts of South America and often infertile by world standards.

Why Australia’s soils are important

Soils provide a range of ecosystem services including providing clean water, sustaining the majority of terrestrial biodiversity, regulating filtering contaminants, reducing dust levels and absorbing organic waste. These processes are essential to ecosystem function as well as underpinning agricultural productivity. An estimated 63 per cent of the Australian landscape is managed under agriculture or forestry. Hence, Australia’s soils contribute significantly towards Australia’s $23.6 billion worth of food and fibre production in 2009–10. Soils sustain the viability and profitability of the rural sector, Australia’s third largest export sector, which according to ABARES generated $27 billion in 2009–10. Ultimately, well managed soil is crucial for the continued economic growth of these systems, as is necessary to support rural and regional communities.

In addition to the economic benefits, production occuring on Australia’s soils contributes significantly to global food security. According to the Prime Minister’s Science, Engineering and Innovation Council, Australian production provides almost 93 per cent of Australia’s domestic food supply and exports approximately 60 per cent (in volume) of total food production, enough to feed some 40 million people each day outside Australia.

More information on Australian soils

Australian Soil Resource Information System provides online access to the best publicly available information on soil and land resources.

Soil Health Knowledge Bank website provides information for farmers, industry and the wider community about soil health, properties, processes and management, and tools to assess soil condition.

Australian Soils and Landscapes – an illustrated compendium, McKenzie N, Jacquier D, Isbell R and Brown K, 2004, CSIRO Publishing, is a reference book which provides an introduction to the remarkable soils and landscapes of Australia.

Australian Society of Soil Science Inc is a not–for–profit organisation that serves as the peak body for soil scientists across Australia, and seeks to advance soil science in the professional, academic and technical fields.