While there is no universally accepted definition of sustainable development, in 1990 the Commonwealth Government adopted the following definition for Ecologically Sustainable Development (ESD) in Australia: 

'using, conserving and enhancing the community's resources so that ecological processes, on which life depends, are maintained, and the total quality of life, now and in the future, can be increased'.

The IUCN/UNEP/WWF strategy for sustainable living, “Caring for the earth”, defined it as:

“improving the quality of human life while living within the carrying capacity of supporting ecosystems" based on respect and care for each other and the Earth” (IUCN/UNEP/WWF 1991).

In other words, a use is sustainable if it is within the resource’s capacity for regeneration (IUCN/UNEP/WWF 1991). Yen and Butcher (1997) summarised sustainable development as development that should “not … be at the expense of other groups or later generations, nor threaten the survival of other species. Development must protect the structure, functions and diversity of the world's natural systems, on which species depend”.

In 1990, the Commonwealth Government set out to systematically identify what needed to be done in Australia to embrace the principles of ESD by establishing Working Groups to look at sustainability issues in key industry sectors. These Working Groups presented reports in November 1991 covering agriculture, forest use, fisheries, manufacturing, mining, energy use, energy production, tourism and transport, and in 1992 further reports were presented on various intersectoral issues and greenhouse (Commonwealth of Australia 1991). Out of this process the National Strategy for Ecologically Sustainable Development (NSESD), (http://www.environment.gov.au/psg/igu/nsesd/index.html), was developed, and was endorsed by Heads of Government in 1992. Its principles are now supposed to inform all other government policy.