Welcome to the Atlas of Living Australia September 2026 newsletter
The Atlas of Living Australia (ALA) has recently released its 2026-27 Annual Work Plan, outlining an ambitious program of work to strengthen Australia’s national biodiversity data infrastructure and support the growing needs of researchers, governments, industry and the community. We are proud to share a plan that builds on the ALA Strategy 2025-2030, with a strong focus on improving biodiversity data quality and governance, supporting emerging data streams such as camera traps and acoustic monitoring, and advancing the transition to a modern, cloud-native platform.
The work plan also highlights investments in Indigenous partnerships, national research infrastructure collaborations including CoastRI, enhanced user experiences, and new analytical capabilities that will help turn biodiversity data into actionable insights. Together, these initiatives reinforce the ALA’s role as a trusted national asset supporting biodiversity science, conservation and evidence-based environmental decision-making across Australia.
The National Digital Research Infrastructure (NDRI) investment round has delivered a major boost for the ALA, with significant government funding secured over coming years to accelerate key national biodiversity data initiatives. Funded projects include the:
- Next Generation Biodiversity Data Platform, which will modernise the ALA’s digital infrastructure and enhance access to biodiversity data at scale,
- Building NDRI Capabilities with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Rangers and Knowledge Holders, a partnership with Curtin University, TERN, CSIRO and the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water that will strengthen Indigenous environmental data capabilities and support ranger-led biodiversity data management.
Alongside other NCRIS partnership projects funded under the National Digital Research Infrastructure Strategy, these investments will position the ALA to deliver next-generation biodiversity infrastructure while expanding access to nationally significant environmental data and supporting better research and decision-making outcomes.
Finally, I’d like to thank our users who contribute to the ALA annual user satisfaction survey, which is open at present. As a data driven organisation, we find your feedback and the metrics derived from it invaluable and your feedback does shape our project priorities, for example around data quality and enhancing our user experience (a major project currently underway). We’ve received some fantastic longitudinal data from the last few years of surveys so please do continue to share your perspectives, and experiences with the ALA.
Happy Biodiversity Month, and I hope you enjoy reading our September newsletter.
Andre Zerger
Director, ALA