Soil Health Management
Overview
The audit examined how effectively and efficiently soil health programs have been implemented across private land, focusing on integrated soil health initiatives.
The Departments of Sustainability and Environment and Primary Industries, along with catchment management authorities, have implemented soil health programs effectively. However, clearer governance arrangements, greater coordination and better alignment of state and regional priorities would strengthen soil health management.
Currently, soil health responses are neither integrated, nor well coordinated; leading to a patchwork of unaligned and fragmented soil health projects across regions. While the projects have generally met their objectives individually, they have tended to focus on the delivery of outputs rather than achievement of outcomes. Consequently, it is unknown whether soil health programs have actually improved the health of Victoria’s soil.