About this organisation
Summary of activities
Bush Heritage Australia is a not-for-profit conservation organisation focused on buying and managing land for the protection of some of Australia's most important and fragile ecosystems. To increase our impact, we partner with Traditional Custodians and other landholders. During the 2024-2025 financial year, we recorded our second-highest revenue, enabling us to continue rising to the challenges posed by the dual crises of climate change and biodiversity loss. Guided by the focus areas of our 2030 Strategy, we stepped up for our irreplaceable landscapes and all those that call them home, working towards doubling and deepening our impact. We acquired and began protecting two new conservation reserves: - Dodgey Downs in south-west Western Australia on Goreng Noongar Country, which extends the stronghold of privately protected areas in one of the country s most biodiverse and threatened regions and connects with existing Bush Heritage reserves. - Nil Desperandum in north-west New South Wales on Budjiti Country, which protects one of the least-disturbed parts of the Murray Darling Basin and a vital freshwater refuge in the face of climate change. The reserve also connects to Bush Heritage s Naree Station Reserve. These reserves are part of the 1.46 million hectares we directly protect through our reserve network. Across this and partners lands, we tackled 94 research projects and published 27 papers. We undertook five landscape rehydration projects to help water flow as needed through diverse ecosystems, and we planted 273 hectares in biodiverse revegetation projects. We also supported 62 emerging conservationists through our Seeding the Future program, bolstering the future of the industry with promising talent. In addition, in 2024-25, we helped protect and contribute to the management of 10.4 million hectares with our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander partners. We deepened our commitment to right-way science and to the 39 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander partners who we work with, including the support of 134 on-Country events. We sharpened our focus in our work with agricultural partners and other landholders, ensuring our impact supports landscapes we re already working to protect. We were also engaged to provide biodiversity assessments and advice for 10.7 million hectares of agricultural land. Our strategy is strong. Our people are generous and proactive. We are in a robust position for 2025-2026 to continue stepping up for nature.
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Outcomes
Outcomes are self-reported by charities
Programs and activities
Name: Buying & Protecting Land For Conservation
URL: https://www.bushheritage.org.au/what-we-do/our-priorities/buying-land
Classification: Environment (Environment)
Beneficiaries:- Animals
- Environment
- General community in Australia
Name: Protecting Native Species
URL: https://www.bushheritage.org.au/what-we-do/our-priorities/species
Classification: Environment (Environment)
Beneficiaries:- Animals
- Environment
- General community in Australia
Name: Conservation Science
URL: https://www.bushheritage.org.au/what-we-do/our-priorities/science
Classification: Environment (Environment)
Beneficiaries:- Animals
- Environment
- General community in Australia
Name: Engaging with Traditional Custodians
URL: https://www.bushheritage.org.au/what-we-do/our-priorities/aboriginal
Classification: Environment (Environment)
Beneficiaries:- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
- Animals
- Environment
- General community in Australia
Name: Climate Change Mitigation
URL: https://www.bushheritage.org.au/what-we-do/our-challenge/climate-change
Classification: Climate change (Environment > Climate change)
Beneficiaries:- Animals
- Environment
- General community in Australia
Name: Agricultural Partnerships
URL: https://www.bushheritage.org.au/what-we-do/our-priorities/agriculture
Classification: Biodiversity (Environment > Biodiversity)
Beneficiaries:- Animals
- Environment
- General community in Australia
Name: Impact Measurement
URL: https://www.bushheritage.org.au/what-we-do/our-impact/measuring
Classification: Biodiversity (Environment > Biodiversity)
Beneficiaries:- Animals
- Environment
- General community in Australia
Finances
What is this?
This graph shows how much revenue (money in) and expenses (money out) the charity has had each year over the last few years. Charities have many sources of revenue, such as donations, government grants, and services they sell to the public. Similarly, expenses are everything that allows the charity to run, from paying staff to rent.
What should I be looking for?
First off, this graph gives a general indication of how big the charity is - charities range in size from tiny (budgets of less than $100,000) to enormous (budgets more than $100 million). You're also looking for variability - if the charity's revenue and expenses are jumping up and down from year to year, make sure there's a good reason for it.
Unlike companies, charities and not-for-profits aren't on a mission to make money. However, if they spend more than they receive, eventually they will go into too much debt and run into trouble. As a very general rule, you want revenue to be slightly above expenses. If expenses is reliably above revenue, the charity is losing money. If revenue is much larger than expenses, it means the charity might not be using its resources effectively. It isn't always that simple, however, and there's a lot of reasons a charity might not follow this pattern. They might be saving up for a big purchase or campaign, or they might have made a big one-off payment. If you're worried, always look at the annual and financial reports to understand why the charity is making the decisions it is.
What is this?
If a charity receives more money than it spends, that's a surplus (in business, it would be called profit). If it spends more than it receives, that's a deficit. This chart shows surpluses and deficits for the charity over the last few years.
What should I be looking for?
Unlike companies, charities and not-for-profits aren't on a mission to make money. However, if they spend more than they receive, eventually they will go into too much debt and run into trouble. As a very general rule, you want a charity to make a small surplus on average. A deficit means that charity lost money that year, which may indicate poor financial management or just a series of bad circumstances. If the charity always has a huge surplus, it means the charity might not be using its resources effectively. It isn't always that simple, however, and there's a lot of reasons a charity might not follow this pattern. They might be saving up for a big purchase or campaign, or they might have made a big one-off payment. If you're worried, always look at the annual and financial reports to understand why the charity is making the decisions it is.
What is this?
This chart compares the amount the charity receives from various sources, including donations (i.e. money given by the general public or philanthropy), goods and services, government grants, and other sources.
What should I be looking for?
Donations are an important source of revenue for some charities. Others rely more heavily on government funding, or on revenue from other sources. This is an indication of how much they need donors to accomplish their mission. Note that there is no 'good' or 'bad' amount of donations for a charity to have. It might be interesting to look at values over time - are they going up or down? A charity that gets less donations every year may be in trouble.
What is this?
Assets are things that the charity owns that are worth something. This could be anything from a car to investments. Similarly, liabilities are debts or obligations that the charity owes to someone else, like a loan or an agreement to pay for something.
What should I be looking for?
Firstly, in general a charity should have more assets than liabilities. If it doesn't, it implies that the charity might not be able to pay its debts, and you should look very closely at the charity's annual and financial reports to make sure they are taking steps to remedy this. Current assets should generally be above current liabilities - that means the charity can easily pay off the debts that are coming due soon. Beyond that, look for a large stockpile of assets. While a charity should have enough assets to keep it afloat in hard times (a 'buffer') if that stockpile gets too large the charity could be using that money more effectively. As always, if you have concerns check the annual and financial reports.
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