Classification is a basic requirement of all science and needs to be periodically revised as knowledge increases. Present Australian classification schemes date from the 1960s, yet over the past three decades a vast amount of soils data has accumulated. This information needed to be incorporated into a new national soil classification.

This new Australian classification system is a result of over ten years' effort by the author and colleagues in the various States and Territories. It is based on a data set of some 14,000 profile descriptions, many of which have accompanying laboratory data. The system is a multi-categoric, hierarchical, general-purpose scheme with classes defined on the basis of diagnostic horizons or materials and their arrangement in vertical sequence as seen in an exposed soil profile.

The classes are mutually exclusive, and the allocation of 'new' or 'unknown' individuals to the classes is by means of a key.

The Australian Soil Classification will serve as a framework for organising knowledge about Australian soils and will provide a means of communication amongst scientists and between scientists and those who use the land. It will also be useful for those involved in environmental studies and for teachers of soil science.

The Australian Soil Conservation Council formally endorsed the new classification in 1992 and recommended its adoption by all States and Territories and its use in all future federally funded land resource inventory and research programs.