Sandra J. Evangelista

Soil health and soil security are integral to the long‐term sustainability of soils. While soil health is a widely recognised concept, it is limited by its lack of standardisation and often its anthropocentric approach, neglecting broader ecological functions. This study assesses soil health within the soil security framework, employing a series of tables that examine the intersection of soil roles (functions, services, and threats) with the five dimensions of soil security: capacity, condition, codification, connectivity, and capital. A survey conducted across seven regions of the world shows that regional variations are apparent; Europe achieved the highest scores in codification and Asia scored low in most of the dimensions. The study further identifies areas of most agreement and regional aggregation, pinpointing regions with a significant focus on soil health. Soil health initiatives were mostly found to be strongly associated with the condition dimension, particularly in soil functions like food production and carbon storage. By embedding soil health within the soil security assessment framework, it becomes interpretable, manageable, and actionable, thereby enhancing understanding of its critical role. Recognising the role of soil health as a part of soil security amplifies awareness and promotes meaningful actions toward soil sustainability. This approach underscores the interconnectedness of soil health, ecosystems, and human and planetary well‐being.

The long-term sustainability of Australian agriculture is fundamentally constrained by the capacity, condition, availability, and governance of soil resources. Australian soils are among the oldest and most weathered globally, highly heterogeneous, and often slow or effectively irreversible to recover once degraded. Traditional approaches centred on soil health, while valuable at paddock scale, are insufficient to address national-scale challenges related to spatial variability, data continuity, economic valuation, and policy integration. This paper examines soil security as a policy-relevant framework for supporting more sustainable Australian agriculture. Building on the dimensions of soil security (capacity, condition, capital, connectivity, and codification), we synthesise recent Australian case studies to show how soil security extends beyond soil health to integrate biophysical properties, digital soil infrastructure, socio-economic value, and governance mechanisms. Drawing on recent Australian case studies, this review identifies advances in digital soil mapping, national soil assessments, economic valuation of soil capital, stakeholder connectivity, and emerging policy frameworks, while also identifying persistent gaps in regulation, data standardisation, and institutional coordination. The paper argues that soil security can help operationalise 3-N agriculture—Net-Zero, Nature-Positive, and Nutrient-Balanced systems—by translating sustainability goals into spatially explicit, place-based decisions grounded in soil realities. By explicitly accounting for soil capacity limits, condition trajectories, capital value, information flows, and codified rules, soil security can support more realistic climate mitigation strategies, targeted nature-positive interventions, and durable nutrient security outcomes. We conclude that embedding soil security more explicitly within Australian agricultural research, policy, and governance would strengthen efforts to deliver productive, resilient, and socially legitimate food and fibre systems. Without soil security, sustainability frameworks may remain difficult to operationalise consistently; with soil security, they can be translated more effectively into measurable, place-based, and durable decisions.