Designing and configuring monitoring sites to fulfill Australia’s national soil monitoring objectives

Context Priority Action 1 of the Australian National Soil Action Plan underscores the need for a nationally agreed framework to measure, monitor, map, report, and share information on soil condition and trends. Such a framework supports best-practice soil management, informs evidence-based decision-making, and guides future investments in securing Australia’s soil resources. Aims This study aims to present a statistically robust and operationally feasible sampling design that provides the foundation for a national soil monitoring program. The design seeks to support consistent assessments of soil change, identify emerging threats and opportunities, and enable comparisons between managed and minimally disturbed reference soils. Methods The framework applies a hierarchical, systematic approach to identify representative monitoring sites across Australia’s major agricultural regions. The design centres on the establishment of reference soil areas (Genosoils) for all mapped combinations of soil and landscape types, enabling comparison with managed soils. Flexibility is embedded to accommodate logistical constraints and to integrate legacy datasets and existing monitoring programs where appropriate. Key results The proposed network comprises 4775 sites nationally, of which 3463 fall within agricultural regions. These sites represent 343 unique soil and landscape entities (Pedogenons) and encompass more than 1000 distinct soil and land-use combinations. The framework builds on decades of collaborative, multi-organisational work to develop national soil, landscape, and land-use datasets, which underpin the digital foundation for monitoring. Conclusions The design provides a statistically sound and adaptable foundation for long-term, national-scale soil monitoring in Australia. Its structure enables consistent comparison, integration with existing data resources, and scalability for diverse monitoring objectives. Implications While developed for the Australian context, the approach is broadly transferable. With access to suitable soil and geospatial data, the principles and methodology can be adapted internationally to support comparable monitoring efforts, contributing to global initiatives in soil condition assessment and sustainable land management.