Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek says the nation doesn't need a global "in danger" listing for the Great Barrier Reef to take its protection seriously.
The UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation has been considering whether the reef should be added to its World Heritage in-danger list, with a conclusion due in September.
UNESCO's draft decision says "significant progress" has been made by current and former Australian governments, but warns the reef "remains under serious threat and urgent and sustained action ... is essential in order to improve the long-term resilience" of the site.
Ms Plibersek said the decision was due to the significant investment and effort the Albanese government has made in protecting the reef for future generations.
This included a trajectory to net zero, investments in reef water quality, and plans to stop overfishing.
"We don't need that listing to make us take the Great Barrier Reef seriously," Ms Plibersek told reporters in Canberra on Tuesday.
"No one takes protecting the reef more seriously than Australians do, and the action that's been taken by this government and the global recognition of that action shows that's the case."
Asked how confident she was there wouldn't be another mass coral bleaching event, Ms Plibersek said the government was "very aware" of the coming hotter, drier cycle.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the reef contributed $6 billion a year to the national economy and supported 64,000 jobs, with the government investing $1.2 billion to protect it.
A UN mission that toured the reef in March 2022 found Australia's efforts to protect the reef from climate change, poor water quality, harmful fishing activities and other threats were inadequate.
A decision on whether to put the reef on the list of in-danger sites will require the backing of the World Heritage Committee when it meets in September.
At 1.5C of warming, it is expected 99 per cent of the world's coral reefs will die, with the globe on track to warm more than that temperature.
Climate Council director of research Simon Bradshaw said all tropical coral reefs worldwide were in "grave danger".
"Strong and determined action this decade will be the difference between giving our precious Great Barrier Reef and everything that depends on it a fighting chance and watching it disappear," he said.
World Wide Fund for Nature Australia spokesman Richard Leck said the country had been placed on "probation" for its management of the reef.
"To give the reef a fighting chance, it’s vital the Queensland and Australian governments implement ambitious emissions reduction measures," he said.
The Australian Marine Conservation Society said the reef "faces the fight of its life" as a likely El Nino increases the risks of marine heatwaves and coral bleaching.
Opposition environment spokesman Jonno Duniam said the coalition implemented a number of plans to protect the reef.
Senator Duniam said this included the $3 billion Reef 2050 plan, which "resulted in record levels of hard coral cover across the reef by the end of our tenure in government".
