Message from our CFO & Chair of the Finance, Audit & Risk Committee

The twelve months of 2024-25 represented another year of strong financial performance for Bush Heritage. Thanks to our supporters’ consistent and generous contributions, we’re in a robust position to continue delivering on the ambitious goals of our 2030 Strategy, as demonstrated by:

• Revenue increase of 2% on the previous year 
• The purchase of two new reserves 
• Record level of capital expenditure (excluding land acquisitions).

Our total revenue for 2024-25 of $42.9 million was a 2% increase on 2023-24, and a significant 26% increase on 2022-23. Revenue from our generous supporters continues to be the major source of our funds – representing 79% of our 2024-25 revenue.

We invested $5.1 million in the purchase of two new reserves, Dodgey Downs on Goreng Noongar Country in south-west Western Australia and Nil Desperandum (part of Naree) on Budjiti Country in north-west New South Wales. Both acquisitions connect to existing reserves and extend our impact in our Priority Landscapes, leveraging current resources and infrastructure. 

A further $4.5 million was spent on reserve infrastructure and equipment, including a major development at our Scottsdale Reserve in New South Wales, Ngarigo and Ngambri Country, and continuous upgrades were made to our reserve vehicle fleet.

We maintain our strong focus on directing a high proportion of expenditure to our conservation management activities. In the current year, Bush Heritage amended the basis of this calculation to include capital expenditure. We believe adding this to our operating expenditure, as reported in the Income Statement and excluding depreciation, provides a more accurate representation of our financial allocation decisions. 

In 2024-25, our combined total operating expenses – excluding depreciation – and capital expenditure directed 75% towards our conservation management activities. The equivalent result for 2023-24 was 76%, which included the substantial investment made for the acquisition of the Evelyn Downs Reserve in South Australia.

Our Capital Fund holds investments of more than $30 million and has two key purposes; 

1. acting as an operational reserve available to navigate potential future economic volatility, and 
2. to support significant land acquisitions and other growth opportunities.

We anticipate 2025-26 revenue and expenditure to be equivalent to or slightly higher than the 2024-25 financial year. We'll continue to assess potential new land acquisition opportunities utilising our rigorous assessment process.