Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities

Glossary of terms, abbreviations and acronymns

Term	Meaning
Additional estimates	A process through which the parliament may appropriate more funds to portfolios if the amounts appropriated at Budget time are insufficient. There can also be supplementary additional estimates.
Administered items / administered appropriations	Expenses, revenues, assets or liabilities managed by agencies on behalf of the Commonwealth. Administered expenses include grants, subsidies and benefits and may fund the delivery of third party outputs. For example, the department administers appropriations for the Australian Government’s Natural Heritage Trust to provide grants. This annual report refers to appropriations for administered items as ‘administered appropriations’.
Administrative Arrangements Orders (AAOs)	AAOs formally allocate executive responsibility among ministers. They set out which matters and legislation are administered by which department or portfolio. AAOs are reissued or amended to take into account changes in the structure of government.
Appropriations	Authorisations by the parliament to spend moneys from the Consolidated Revenue Fund. Two appropriation Bills are introduced into parliament in May and comprise the Budget. Further Bills are introduced later in the financial year as part of the additional estimates.
Avgas	Aviation-grade leaded petrol, usually containing levels of lead between 0.56 g/L and 0.85 g/L.
Basin Plan	The Water Act 2007 requires that the Murray–Darling Basin Authority (MDBA) develops and oversees the Basin Plan for the integrated management of Basin water resources. The Basin Plan provides limits on the quantity of water that may be taken from the Basin water resources.
Basin states	The Basin states are Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and the Australian Capital Territory. The Murray–Darling Basin Ministerial Council was established under the Murray–Darling Basin Agreement, Schedule 1 to the Water Act 2007. Membership of the ministerial council comprises the Commonwealth water minister, who also chairs the ministerial council, and one minister from each of the Basin states (and one territory). The Murray–Darling Basin Authority manages the water resources of the Murray–Darling Basin in conjunction with the Basin states through a number of programs.
Biodiscovery	The examination of biological resources (e.g. plants, animals, microorganisms) for characteristics that may have wider application and/or commercial value.
Biodiversity	In essence this means the variety of life. The term ‘biodiversity’ is a contraction of, and synonymous with, ‘biological diversity’. Biological diversity is defined in Article 2 of the Convention on Biological Diversity to mean ‘the variability among living organisms from all sources including, inter alia, terrestrial, marine and other aquatic ecosystems and the ecological complexes of which they are part; this includes diversity within species, between species and of ecosystems’ (a similar definition appears in the glossary to the Ramsar Convention on wetlands).
Bioregion	A geographic area characterised by a combination of physical and biological characteristics—for example, terrain, climate and ecological communities. The glossary of terms related to the Convention on Biological Diversity provides the following definition: ‘a territory defined by a combination of biological, social, and geographic criteria, rather than geopolitical considerations; generally, a system of related, interconnected ecosystems’. The term ‘bioregion’ is a contraction of biogeographic region and is usually synonymous with that term. Bioregions are a useful way to analyse patterns of biodiversity. The definition of a particular bioregion depends on the scale at which its characteristic features are measured.
Biota	In ecology, the plant and animal life of a region.
Biotechnology	Any technology that introduces organisms or parts of organisms into industrial processes, agriculture or pharmacology or into services such as waste recycling.
Bycatch	Accidental or incidental catch taken by fishers (non-target species).
Carbon credit	A tradeable unit corresponding to one metric tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions. Participants in the Carbon Farming Initiative will be issued with Australian Carbon Credit Units.
Carbon market	A generic term for a trading system in which governments or private organisations may buy and sell carbon credits in an effort to meet limits on emissions.
Cetaceans	Whales, dolphins and porpoises.
Commonwealth Heritage List	Comprises places that are owned or controlled by the Australian Government and have natural, Indigenous and/or historic heritage values under the EPBC Act. This includes places connected to defence, communications, customs and other government activities that also reflect Australia’s development as a nation.
Commonwealth protected area	A marine or terrestrial area protected under Commonwealth legislation, including a World Heritage Area, National Heritage place, Marine Protected Area, Ramsar Wetland, Indigenous Protected Area and other areas within the National Reserve System.
Controlled substance licence	A licence required to manufacture, import or export methyl bromide, hydrochlorofluorocarbons, hydrofluorocarbons and perfluorocarbons.
Corporate governance	The process by which agencies are directed, controlled and held to account. It is generally understood to encompass authority, accountability, stewardship, leadership, direction and control.
Cryosphere	Refers collectively to the portions of the Earth where water is in solid form. It includes snow cover, floating ice, glaciers, ice caps, ice sheets, seasonally frozen ground and perennially frozen ground (permafrost).
DCN	Derived cetane number.
Dendroglyphs	Carved burial and initiation trees.
Departmental items/ departmental appropriations	Assets, liabilities, revenues and expenses that are controlled by agencies in providing their outputs. Departmental items would generally include computers, plant and equipment assets used by agencies in providing goods and services and most employee expenses, supplier costs and other administrative expenses incurred. This annual report refers to appropriations for departmental items as ‘departmental appropriations’.
Desalination	The process of removing excess salt and other minerals from water in order to obtain freshwater suitable for human consumption and other purposes.
DIPE	Di-isopropyl ether.
Discretionary grants	Payments made to particular applicants, either organisations or individuals, at the discretion of the portfolio minister or the paying agency. The definition of discretionary grants does not include service agreements, which are treated as contracts rather than grants; intra-Australian Government agency funding; payments to states and other government agencies (specific purpose payments) and intergovernment transfers; payments to overseas aid organisations; government income support programs; emergency payment programs; grants under commercial industry development programs (including to increase research and development, and assist exporters); grant programs specifically for educational institutions and medical research institutions; grants approved by Australian Government bodies outside the general government sector; or payments of a specific sum of money or a fixed percentage of shared funding to an organisation or individual that are made according to a Cabinet decision, a letter from the Prime Minister or a determination of a ministerial council.
Ecological communities	Naturally occurring group of species inhabiting a common environment; interacting with each other, especially through food relationships; and relatively independent of other groups. Ecological communities may vary in size and larger ones may contain smaller ones. In the EPBC Act they are defined as assemblages of native species that inhabit particular areas in nature.
Ecologically sustainable	The EPBC Act defines ecologically sustainable use of natural resources as ‘use of the natural resources within their capacity to sustain natural processes while maintaining the life-support systems of nature and ensuring that the benefit of the use to the present generation does not diminish the potential to meet the needs and aspirations of future generations’.
Ecosystem	A dynamic combination of plant, animal and micro-organism communities and their non-living environment (e.g. soil, water and the climatic regime) interacting as a functional unit. Examples of types of ecosystems include forests, wetlands, grasslands and tundra.
Ecotoxicology	Seeks to understand how toxic chemicals (toxicants) affect the structure and function of natural ecological systems (populations, communities and ecosystems). The Environmental Research Institute of the Supervising Scientist ecotoxicology program investigates the risks and impacts of pollutants (toxicants) to the highly valued wetland ecosystems of northern Australia.
Endemic species	An animal or plant species whose habitat is restricted to a particular area or space on the globe. This general term is used for a range of creatures including mammal species, reptile species, bird species and insect species. Details on an endemic species may differ depending on what kind of animal or plant is being referenced. Generally, an endemic species is a focus point for helping to protect biodiversity in a given environment.
Enforceable undertaking	May be applied under section 486DA of the EPBC Act where the minister considers that an action contravenes a civil penalty provision of Part 3 of the Act. The minister may accept a written undertaking by a person to pay a specified amount within a specified period to the Commonwealth, or another specified person, to protect and conserve the matter covered by the civil penalty provision.
Environmental impact assessment	An assessment of the possible impact of a proposed action undertaken to enable environment and heritage protection and biodiversity conservation.
Environmental water	Water provided for the environment to sustain and, where necessary, restore ecological processes and biodiversity of water dependent ecosystems.
Essential uses licence	May be granted under the EPBC Act for the import, export or manufacture of chlorofluorocarbons (CFC), halons, CH3CCl3 (methyl chloroform), CCl4 (carbon tetrachloride) and bromochloromethane (BCM) for uses that meet a very limited range of essential use criteria, including laboratory and analytical use. Essential uses licences are subject to quantitative restrictions and reporting requirements.
Expenses	Total value of all of the resources consumed in producing goods and services.
Finalised Priority Assessment List (FPAL)	The list of nominated species, ecological communities and key threatening processes that have been approved for assessment by the minister for a particular assessment year (1 October – 30 September). Each item included on the FPAL is assessed by the Threatened Species Scientific Committee against a set of criteria. At the completion of the assessment the committee provides a ‘listing advice’ to the minister for decision, as well as a ‘conservation advice’ that outlines immediate conservation priorities.
Financial results	The results shown in the financial statements of an agency.
Flow controller	A device designed to regulate the flow of water so as to maintain a constant flow rate over a given range of pressures.
Forward osmosis	The passage of a solvent through a semi-permeable partition into a more concentrated solution.
Geographic information system (GIS)	An information system for capturing, storing, analysing, managing and presenting data that are spatially referenced (linked to location). GIS applications are tools that allow users to create interactive queries (user created searches), analyse spatial information, edit data, maps and present the results of all these operations.
Gigalitre (GL)	One gigalitre is equal to 1000 megalitres and one megalitre is equal to one million litres.
g/L	Grams per litre.
Greenhouse gases	Heat-trapping gases that are a natural part of the atmosphere. They maintain higher temperatures at the earth’s surface than would otherwise be possible. This phenomenon is called the greenhouse effect. Water vapour is the most abundant greenhouse gas. Its concentration is highly variable and human activities have little direct impact on its amount in the atmosphere. Humans have most impact on carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide. Various artificial chemicals such as halocarbons also make a small contribution to climate change. The earth’s climate is warming. Scientists agree that some of this warming is due to human activities—particularly burning fossil fuels (coal, oil and natural gas) and land clearing—increasing the level of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
Hydrological connectivity	The ability of water to move from one location to another, thereby facilitating the transfer of matter, energy and organisms.
Indigenous Protected Area (IPA)	An area of Indigenous-owned land or sea where Traditional Owners have entered into an agreement with the Australian Government to promote biodiversity and cultural resource conservation.
Invasive species	A species that occurs beyond its accepted normal distribution and which threatens valued environmental, agricultural, marine or social resources by the damage it causes.
kg/m^3	Kilograms per metre cubed.
Machinery of government (MOG) changes	Describes a variety of organisational or functional changes affecting the Commonwealth. Some common examples are: changes to the Administrative Arrangements Order following a prime ministerial decision to abolish or create a department or to move functions/responsibilities between epartments/agencies; creation of a new statutory agency or executive agency, or abolition of such agencies; movement of functions into, or out of, the Australian Public Service.
Marine benthic environment	Refers to all marine organisms living upon or in the bottom of the ocean.
Marine protected area	Parts of the ocean that are managed specifically to protect and maintain marine biodiversity and cultural heritage. These areas are reserved by law or other effective means to protect part or all of the marine environment (also known as marine reserve or marine park).
Matters of national environmental significance (MNES)	The matters of national environmental significance protected under the EPBC Act are listed threatened species and communities; listed migratory species; Ramsar wetlands of international importance; Commonwealth marine environment; World Heritage properties; National Heritage places; the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park; and nuclear actions.
Megalitres (ML)	One megalitre is equal to one million litres.
mg/kg	Milligrams per kilogram.
m/m	Mass by mass.
MTBE	Methyl tertiary butyl ether.
National Heritage List	A written record of the places and their heritage values that the minister is satisfied have one or more National Heritage values.
Nutrient cycling	The cycling through an ecosystem of minerals, compounds or elements that promote biological growth or development.
Operating costs	Expenses associated with the day-to-day operation of the department.
Outcomes	The intended results, impacts or consequences of actions by the government on the Australian community. They are listed in agencies’ portfolio budget statements and portfolio additional estimates statements.
Ozone depleting substances (ODSs)	Substances that deplete the earth’s protective ozone layer. They are widely used in refrigerators, air conditioners, fire extinguishers, dry cleaning, electronic equipment, as solvents for cleaning and as agricultural fumigants. Ozone-depleting substances include chlorofluorocarbons, halon, hydrochlorofluorocarbons and methyl bromide. Countries have agreed to phase out ozone-depleting substances through the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer. Some industries that use ozone-depleting substances are replacing those substances with synthetic greenhouse gases.
Persistent organic pollutants	Hazardous and environmentally persistent substances that can be transported between countries by the earth’s oceans and atmosphere. The substances bioaccumulate and have been traced in the fatty tissues of humans and other animals. Persistent organic pollutants include dieldrin, polychlorinated byphenyls, dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT), dioxins and furans. Countries have agreed to control the manufacture and trade of persistent organic pollutants through the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants.
Portfolio budget statements (PBS)	Detailed information on the resources available and the planned performance of each agency within a portfolio. The PBS includes expenditure and revenue estimates for the current financial year, the budget year and the three forward years. The PBS informs senators, members of parliament and the public of the proposed allocation of resources to government outcomes. The PBS provides an important means by which the executive government remains accountable to the parliament.
Pre-charged equipment licence	A licence is required to import into Australia refrigeration and/or air-conditioning equipment that contains a hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) or hydrochlorofluorocarbon (HCFC) refrigerant.
Procurement	Encompasses the whole process of acquiring property and services. Procurement involves the processes of developing a business case, including risk assessment, identifying and evaluating alternative solutions, approaching the market, assessing tenders or quotes, contract award, delivery of and payment for the property and services and, where relevant, the ongoing management of a contract and consideration of options related to the contract. Procurement also extends to the ultimate disposal of property at the end of its useful life.
Product stewardship	Recognises that manufacturers, importers and others who benefit from making and selling a product share some responsibility for the environmental impacts of that product.
Programs	Agencies deliver programs that are the government actions taken to deliver the stated outcomes. Agencies are required to identify the programs that contribute to government outcomes over the budget and forward years.
Ramsar listing	Denotes the inclusion of a wetland area on the List of Wetlands of International Importance—an inventory prescribed by the Convention on Wetlands (more commonly known as the Ramsar Convention, which was signed in Ramsar, Iran, in 1971). As one of the original contracting parties to the Convention, Australia has designated 65 sites for this list.
Remnant vegetation	One or more areas of largely intact (structurally and/or compositionally) native vegetation which remains after the removal (usually by clearing) of parts of a natural area.
Revenue	The total value of resources earned or received to cover the production of goods and services.
Riparian	Vegetation situated on the banks of watercourses. In central Australia, where watercourses are usually dry, riparian communities often extend across the bed of the creek or river. The major threats to riparian communities are introduced weeds and fire.
River benches	A terrace or step that extends along the side of a valley and represents a former level of the valley floor. It generally has a flat top made up of sedimentary deposits and a steep fore edge and it may be the remains of an old floodplain, cut through by the river and left standing above the present floodplain level.
Sclerophyll	A typically Australian vegetation type having plants with hard, short and often spiky leaves. They occur in a band around Australia from southern Queensland to the south-west of Western Australia. Sclerophyll is a Greek word meaning ‘hard-leaved’ (sclero = hard; phyllon = leaf). The hardness in the leaves comes from lignin and prevents the leaves from wilting in dry conditions. However, Australian sclerophyllous plants evolved in response to low levels of soil phosphorus, not to low levels of moisture.
Shipping days	24-hour period during which a ship is under charter to the Australian Antarctic Division.
Special appropriations	Moneys appropriated by the parliament in an Act separate to an annual Appropriation Act, where the payment is for a specified amount. For example, the department receives special appropriations under laws that require industry to pay a levy on the import of ozone-depleting substances. Special appropriations are not subject to annual budget control by the parliament, unlike the annual appropriations.
Sustainable diversion limits	The maximum long-term annual average quantities of water that can be taken, on a sustainable basis, from Murray–Darling Basin water resources as a whole and from the water resources, or particular parts of the water resources, of each water resource plan area in the Basin.
Synthetic greenhouse gases (SGGs)	Greenhouse gases that are either used in industrial applications or emitted as a by-product of industrial activity. They include hydrofluorocarbons, perfluorocarbons and sulfur hexafluoride. Some industries that use ozone-depleting substances are replacing those substances with synthetic greenhouse gases.
TBA	Tertiary butyl alcohol.
Threat abatement plan	Threat abatement plans are developed when they are deemed by the minister to be a feasible, efficient and effective way of abating a listed key threatening process, having regard to the advice of the Threatened Species Scientific Committee and other nominated persons or bodies.
Threatened species	Listed threatened species (together with listed threatened ecological communities) form one of the eight matters of national environmental significance protected by the EPBC Act. Listed threatened species are categorised under the Act as either ‘extinct’, ‘extinct in the wild’, ‘critically endangered’, ‘endangered’, ‘vulnerable’ or ‘conservation dependent’.
v/v	Volume by volume.
Used substances licence	A licence that may be granted under the Ozone Protection and Synthetic Greenhouse Gas Management Act 1989 for the import or export of used or recycled chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs), halons, carbon tetrachloride, CH3CCl3 (methyl chloroform), methyl bromide and bromochloromethane (BCM). The import and export of these substances has been banned under the Act since 1996 without a used substances licence.
Water buyback	Under the Restoring the Balance in the Murray–Darling Basin program, the Australian Government is buying permanent water entitlements from irrigators for the environment. The water allocated to the entitlements will be used to improve the health of the Murray–Darling Basin’s rivers and wetlands.
World Heritage List	A list of properties with cultural heritage and/or natural heritage which the World Heritage Committee considers as having outstanding universal value.

Acronym	Meaning
AAD	Australian Antarctic Division
AAT	Administrative Appeals Tribunal
ABBBS	Australian Bird and Bat Banding Scheme
ABRS	Australian Biological Resources Study
AELERT	Australasian Environmental Law Enforcement and Regulators Network
ANAO	Australian National Audit Office
APEC	Asia–Pacific Economic Cooperation
AQIS	Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service
ARC	Australian Refrigeration Council
B5	Blends of diesel and biodiesel where the biodiesel component is no greater than five per cent
B20	Blends of diesel and biodiesel where the biodiesel component is no greater than 20 per cent
CA	Controlled action
CCAMLR	Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources
CEWH	Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder
CFC	Chlorofluorocarbon
CITES	Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora
CMA	Catchment Management Authority
CMP	Conservation Management Plan
COAG	Council of Australian Governments
CSG	Coal seam gas
CSIRO	Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation
DAFF	Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry
DSEWPaC	Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities
EEZ	Exclusive economic zone
EPBC Act	Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999
EPHC	Environment Protection and Heritage Council
ERISS	Environmental Research Institute of the Supervising Scientist
FQS Act	Fuel Quality Standards Act 2000
GL	Gigalitre
HBFC	Hydrobromofluorocarbon
HCFC	Hydrochlorofluorocarbon
HFC	Hydrofluorocarbon
IPA	Indigenous Protected Area
IWC	International Whaling Commission
KPI	Key performance indicator
LNG	Liquefied natural gas
MDBA	Murray–Darling Basin Authority
MER	Monitoring, evaluation and reporting
MTBE	Methyl tertiary butyl ether
NEPM	National Environment Protection Measure
NHT	Natural Heritage Trust
NRSMPA	National Representative System of Marine Protected Areas
ODP	Ozone-depleting potential
PAES	Portfolio additional estimates statements
PBS	Portfolio budget statements
PFC	Perfluorocarbon
PSO Act	Product Stewardship (Oil) Act 2000
RAC	Refrigeration and air conditioning
SCEW	Standing Council on Environment and Water
SGG	Synthetic greenhouse gas
SSD	Supervising Scientist Division
TBA	Tertiary butyl alcohol
TSSC	Threatened Species Scientific Committee
UNEP	United Nations Environment Programme
UNESCO	United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation
WELS	Water Efficiency Labelling and Standards
WTO	World Trade Organization