Executive summary

This report presents the results of air quality monitoring in Victoria for 2020 and assesses them against the requirements of the Ambient Air Quality National Environment Protection Measure (AAQ NEPM) (referred to as the Measure).

Based on the NEPM ambient air monitoring stations, Victoria’s air quality was generally considered to be good in 2020, although there were periods of poor air quality. This was mainly due to major bushfires in January and February which resulted in significant smoke impacts and urban pollution across wide areas of the state. EPA also collects data from stations at sites with specific air pollution issues, such as the Brooklyn Industrial Precinct and in the Latrobe Valley (excluding Traralgon air monitoring station). These stations are additional to those required for reporting against the Measure, and therefore the data from these stations are not included in this report.

Environment Protection Authority Victoria (EPA) provides hourly data updates on air pollution levels and categories on EPA AirWatch. EPA’s historical air pollution data can be accessed on DataVic.

What is the Measure?

The Measure establishes national ambient air quality standards. It aims to guide policies around the protection of human health by providing a consistent framework for monitoring and reporting common air pollutants: nitrogen dioxide (NO₂), carbon monoxide (CO), ozone (O₃), sulfur dioxide (SO₂), lead (Pb), and particles (PM₁₀ and PM_2.5). EPA is responsible for monitoring and reporting Victoria’s ambient air quality in accordance with the requirements of the Measure.

Compliance with the Measure

EPA assesses air quality in Victoria against the standards and pollutant goals defined in the Measure. Compliance with the Measure requires that air quality standards are not exceeded more than the allowable number, as outlined in Schedule 2 of the Measure. Compliance with the Measure also requires that a minimum of 75 per cent of data are available for each quarter in the year. In addition to standard instrumentation for measuring compliance with the Measure, EPA also collects data from stations at sites with specific air pollution issues, such as the Brooklyn Industrial Precinct and in the Latrobe Valley (excluding Traralgon air monitoring station). This is known as ‘campaign monitoring’. These data are not assessed against the Measure and therefore not included in this report. Results for these air monitoring stations are reported on EPA AirWatch and historical air pollution data can be accessed on DataVic .