Patterns of air quality around Australia between 2016 and 2021, using Government air quality monitors – 2022

This report rated air quality for 36 sites around Australia. The results ranged from half-a-star to four-and-a-half stars, with an average of two-and-a-half stars. One of the common reasons for reduced ratings was the influence of landscape fires, especially the Black Summer bushfires of 2019-2020, and annual savannah burning in the Top End of the Northern Territory. These caused multiple elevated pollution days and drove long-term trends. Another contributor in many locations was seasonal pollution from wood heater emissions.

This report highlights a wide variation in air quality around the country, and provides air quality rating by states for various sites (urban and regional), and the plausible reasons for the trends in air quality (bushfires, wood heaters etc). There is considerable potential for interventions to protect health and improve air quality.