Skip to main content Skip to main navigation Skip to search
ABARES - Forests Australia

Top navigation abares

  • Department
  • Ministers
  • Media Centre
Main menu

Main navigation Forests Australia

  • Home
    Home
  • Australia’s forests
    Australia’s forests
  • State of the forests reports
    State of the forests reports
  • Product statistics
    Product statistics
  • Plantation statistics
    Plantation statistics
  • Data and maps
    Data and maps
  • Publications
    Publications
Department of Agriculture

Breadcrumb

  1. DAFF Home
  2. ABARES
  3. Forests Australia
  4. Acacia forest

Secondary Forests Australia

  • Forests Australia
    • Australia's forests
      • Forest profiles
        • Australia's forests-overview
        • Acacia forest
        • Callitris forest
        • Casuarina forest
        • Eucalypt forest
        • Mangrove forest
        • Melaleuca forest
        • Rainforest
        • Commercial plantations
    • Forest facts
    • Australia's State of the Forests Report
      • Synthesis 2023
      • Criterion 1: Conservation of biological diversity
        • 1.1a.i Forest area by type
          • 1.1a.i Supporting information
        • 1.1a.ii Forest area by tenure
          • 1.1a.ii Supporting information
        • 1.1a.iii Forest area in RFA regions
          • 1.1a.iii Supporting information
        • 1.1a.iv Forest area change over time
          • 1.1a.iv Supporting information
        • 1.1c: Area of forest protected for conservation
          • 1.1c: supporting information
        • 1.2a: Forest dwelling species
          • 1.2a: supporting information
        • 1.2b: Threatened forest dwelling species
          • 1.2b: supporting information
        • 1.3a: Species at risk from loss of genetic variation
          • 1.3a: supporting information
        • 1.3b: Genetic resource conservation
          • 1.3b: supporting information
      • Criterion 2: Productive capacity of forest ecosystems
        • 2.1a: Native forest available for wood production and the area harvested
        • 2.1b: Age class and growing stock of plantations
        • 2.1c: Annual removal of wood products compared to sustainable volumes
          • 2.1c.i Sustainable yield and harvest levels (2024)
          • 2.1c.ii Removals by log type (2024)
          • 2.1c.iii Forecast national log availability (2024)
        • 2.1e: Harvested area regenerated or re-established
      • Criterion 3: Ecosystem health and vitality
        • 3.1a: Forest health and vitality
          • 3.1a Supporting information
        • 3.1b: Area of forest burnt
          • 3.1b: supporting Information
      • Criterion 4: Soil and water resources
        • 4.1a: Area of forest managed for protective functions
      • Criterion 5: Forest contribution to global carbon cycles
        • 5.1a: Carbon in forests and forest products
      • Criterion 6: Socioeconomic benefits to meet the needs of societies
        • 6.1a: Value and volume of wood and wood products
          • 6.1a: supporting information
        • 6.1d: Production, consumption, import/export of wood and non-wood products
        • 6.2b: Investment in research and development
          • 6.2b: supporting information
        • 6.4a: Indigenous forest estate
        • 6.5a: Direct and indirect employment
          • 6.5a: supporting information
        • 6.5b: Wage rates and injury rates
          • 6.5b: supporting information
        • 6.5c: Resilience of forest dependent communities
          • 6.5c: supporting information
        • 6.5d: Resilience of forest dependent Indigenous communities
          • 6.5d: supporting information
      • Criterion 7: Legal, institutional and economic framework for conservation and sustainable management
        • 7.1a: Legal framework
          • 7.1a: supporting information
        • 7.1b: Institutional framework
          • 7.1b: supporting information
        • 7.1e: Capacity to conduct and apply research and development
          • 7.1e supporting information
      • About Australia’s State of the Forests Report
      • Past reporting
        • Australia's State of the Forests Report 2018
          • Executive summary
            • Data
          • Criterion 1 Conservation of biological diversity
          • Criterion 2: Maintenance of productive capacity of forest ecosystems
          • Criterion 3: Maintenance of ecosystem health and vitality
          • Criterion 4: Conservation and maintenance of soil and water resources
          • Criterion 5: Maintenance of forest contribution to global carbon cycles
          • Criterion 6: Maintenance and enhancement of long-term multiple socioeconomic benefits to meet the needs of societies
          • Criterion 7: Legal, institutional and economic framework for forest conservation and sustainable management
          • Maps and other graphics
          • Data
        • Australia's State of the Forests Report 2013
        • Australia's State of the Forests Report 2008
        • Australia's State of the Forests Report 2003
        • Australia's State of the Forests Report 1998
      • Mandates and drivers for Australia's State of the Forests Report
      • Benefits of producing Australia's State of the Forests Reports
    • Criteria and Indicators for reporting
      • Alignment of Australia's indicators with Montreal Process indicators
      • Review
    • National Forest Inventory
      • National Forest Inventory Steering Committee
    • Forests, land and Australia’s Indigenous peoples
    • Forest and wood products statistics
    • Plantation inventory and statistics
    • Data, maps and tools
      • Data by topic
        • Area of forest
        • Fire in forests
        • Forest species and ecological communities
        • Indigenous land and forest
        • Native forests
        • Plantation forests
        • Regional Forest Agreements
        • Regional forestry profiles
        • Regional Forestry Hubs boundaries
        • Tenure of forests
        • Wood products statistics
      • Spatial data
        • Forests of Australia
        • Tenure of Australia's forests
        • Australia's Indigenous land and forest estate
        • Fires in Australia's forests
        • Regional Forestry Hubs boundaries
        • Australia's plantations
      • Data visualisations
        • Forestry regional profiles - data visualisation
        • Australia's native forest types - data visualisation
      • Maps
      • Tools
    • Publications
    • Forest agencies and organisations
    • Australia's forests and forestry glossary

Acacia forest

Information for this profile is drawn from Australia's State of the Forests Report 2018​​.

Acacia forest is Australia’s second most common forest type after Eucalypt forest, with 10.8 million hectares or 8.2% of Australia's total native forest area. Almost 1,000 species of acacia occur in Australia, making it the nation’s largest genus of flowering plants.

Acacias are remarkably varied in appearance and habit, ranging from low-spreading shrubs to trees more than 30 metres tall. Commonly referred to as wattles, acacias are well known for their mass of bright yellow flowers. Golden wattle (Acacia pycnantha) is the national floral emblem and appears on the coat of arms of Australia.

Acacias have a range of foliage types. Some species have true leaves that are divided into leaflets called pinnae. Others have leaf-like structures called phyllodes, which are flattened leaf stalks. The colour of the foliage varies from light or dark green to silver-grey.

Distribution and ownership

Acacia forests are located in all Australian states and the Northern Territory (Map 1). They grow mainly in arid and semi-arid regions. A total of 5.1 million hectares (47%) of the Acacia forest type is in Queensland and 3.2 million hectares (30%) are in Western Australia.


Open a high-resolution version of Map 1 that can be saved as a PNG file

Mulga (A. aneura and related species) is widespread across central Australia. Brigalow (A. harpophylla) is widespread across Queensland and northern New South Wales, forming dense forests on flat or undulating country with clay soils. Both mulga and brigalow form forest and non-forest communities.

Some species of acacia are also present in wetter areas. For example, in Tasmania, blackwood (A. melanoxylon) dominates stands of swamp forest on poorly drained sites. Silver wattle (A. dealbata) is common on tablelands and foothills from northern New South Wales to western Victoria and Tasmania.

A total of 7.0 million hectares (65%) of Acacia forest is on leasehold land and 2.1 million hectares (20%) are on private land (Table 1).

Download Table 1 data as an Excel workbook

Forest structure

A total of 8.5 million hectares (79%) of Acacia forest is woodland forest and 8.5 million hectares (79%) are low forest (Figure 1). These characteristics are typical of Acacia forest in the arid and semi-arid regions.

Download Figure 1 data as an Excel workbook

Importance and uses

Acacias help to protect the landscape by stabilising soils and preventing erosion. They also enrich the soil by fixing nitrogen, an essential nutrient for plant growth. This process depends on symbiotic bacteria called rhizobia that live in the plant’s root system. Acacias are one of the first plants to regenerate after a disturbance such as a bushfire.

Acacia wood has traditionally been used by Indigenous Australians for making spears, clubs and hunting boomerangs. Early in the colonial period the wood was widely used for cabinet-making and everyday furniture, but today its use is limited to fine furniture.

Acacias are among the most attractive flowering plants in Australia. Common flower colours are bright and golden yellows, but the flowers of some species are almost white to orange-yellow. Acacia flowers and foliage are often used in floral arrangements.

Acacias are used as fodder plants and feed for sheep, especially in drought-affected areas when alternative feed sources are scarce.

Bibliography

ABARES 2019, Forests of Australia (2018), Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences, Canberra.

Boland, D, Brooker, M, Chippendale, G, Hall, N, Hyland, B, Johnston, R, Kleinig, D, McDonald, M & Turner, J 2006, Forest trees of Australia, 5th edn, CSIRO Publishing, Melbourne.

Carnahan, JA 1990, Atlas of Australian resources, vol. 6, Vegetation, Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra.

Montreal Process Implementation Group for Australia & National Forest Inventory Steering Committee 2018, Australia's State of the Forests Report 2018, Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences, Canberra.

​

This profile is also available in PDF format [2 MB]

Thanks for your feedback.
Thanks! Your feedback has been submitted.

We aren't able to respond to your individual comments or questions.
To contact us directly phone us or submit an online inquiry

CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.

Please verify that you are not a robot.

Skip
Page last updated: 14 October 2021

We acknowledge the continuous connection of First Nations Traditional Owners and Custodians to the lands, seas and waters of Australia. We recognise their care for and cultivation of Country. We pay respect to Elders past and present, and recognise their knowledge and contribution to the productivity, innovation and sustainability of Australia’s agriculture, fisheries and forestry industries.

Artwork: Protecting our Country, Growing our Future
© Amy Allerton, contemporary Aboriginal Artist of the Gumbaynggirr, Bundjalung and Gamilaroi nations.

Footer

  • Contact us
  • Accessibility
  • Disclaimer
  • Privacy
  • FOI

© Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry

Facebook X LinkedIn Instagram