There has long been concern about the condition of Australia’s rivers and associated wetlands and floodplains. Consequently, river condition assessments have been undertaken for nearly two decades, with specific programs developed for jurisdictional reporting needs and for specific regions like the Murray Darling Basin  together with occasional reports at the national scale. There is more experience in assessing the condition of Australian rivers than for any other environmental asset considered in these trials, and the methods for river condition assessment are more developed than for other assets.