Skip to main content Skip to main navigation Skip to search

Queensland and NSW floods 2022

Visit recovery.gov.au to see what help is available.

Close
Home

Top navigation main

  • News & media
  • Jobs
  • Ministers
  • Contact us
Main menu

AWE Main

  • Climate change
    Climate change Driving climate action, science and innovation so we are ready for the future.
    • Climate science and adaptation
    • Australia's climate change strategies
    • Emissions reduction
    • Emissions reporting
    • International commitments
    • Climate Active
    • Climate change publications and data
    • Australia’s National Greenhouse Accounts (Emissions Data)
    Stronger action on climate change

    Stronger action on climate change

    See how the Australian Government is committed to taking more ambitious action on climate change.

    Find out more

  • Energy
    Energy Building a secure and sustainable energy system for all Australians.
    • Energy policy in Australia
    • Energy ministers
    • Renewable energy
    • Energy publications
    • energy.gov.au
    • Energy Rating
    • Commercial Building Disclosure Program
    • Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme (NatHERS)
    • Your Home
    Decorative image

    Australian Energy Employment Report survey

    Share insights to help the energy workforce plan for the future

    Find out more

  • Environment
    Environment Improving stewardship and sustainable management of Australia’s environment.
    • Bushfire recovery
    • Climate change and the environment
    • Biodiversity
    • EPBC Act
    • Environmental information and data
    • International activities
    • Invasive species
    • Land
    • Marine
    • Partnerships
    • Protection
    • Report a breach of environment law
    • Threatened species & ecological communities
    • Waste and recycling
    • Wildlife trade
    Decorative image

    Read our Nature Positive Plan

    Our plan sets out the Australian Government’s commitment to environmental law reform

    Find out more

  • Water
    Water Improving the sustainable management of Australia’s water supply for industry, the environment and communities.
    • Coal, Coal seam gas (CSG) and water
    • Commonwealth Environmental Water Office
    • Water policy and resources
    • Wetlands
    Water matters

    Water Matters

    Keep up with the latest news on the department's work in managing Australia's water resources.

    Read the latest edition here

  • Parks and heritage
    Parks and heritage Managing Australia’s iconic national parks, historic places and living landscapes.
    • Australian Marine Parks
    • Australian National Botanic Gardens
    • Booderee National Park
    • Kakadu National Park
    • Christmas Island National Park
    • National parks
    • Norfolk Island National Park
    • Heritage
    • Pulu Keeling National Park
    • The Great Barrier Reef
    • Uluṟu-Kata Tjuṯa National Park
    The reef

    Great Barrier Reef

    Australia is protecting and conserving this World Heritage Area.

    Find out more

  • Science and research
    Science and research Undertaking research and collecting data to support informed decisions and policies.
    • Climate change
    • Australia's biological resources
    • National Environmental Science Program (NESP)
    • Our science strategy
    • Australian Biological Resource Study (ABRS)
    • State of the Environment (SoE) reporting
    • Bird and bat banding
    • Supervising Scientist
    Our climate is changing

    Our climate is changing

    Find out more about how climate science helps Australians with the impacts of climate change.

    Find out more

  • About us
    About us We lead Australia’s response to climate change and sustainable energy use, and protect our environment, heritage and water.
    • Accountability and reporting
    • Assistance, grants and tenders
    • Fees and charges
    • News and media
    • Our commitment to you
    • People and jobs
    • Publications
    • What we do
    • Who we are
    Decorative image

    Juukan Gorge response

    Read the Australian Government's response to the destruction at Juukan Gorge and the recommendations

    Read the response

  • Online services
    Online services We do business with you using online platforms. This makes it easier for you to meet your legal requirements.
Department of Climate Change, Energy, Enviroment and Water

Breadcrumb

  1. Home
  2. Environment
  3. Biodiversity
  4. Threatened species & ecological communities
  5. Threatened ecological communities

Sidebar first - EN - Biodiversity

  • Threatened species & ecological communities
    • Threatened Species Commissioner
      • Threatened Species Bake off
      • Contact us
    • The Threatened Species Action Plan 2022-2032
      • Priority Species
      • Development and consultation
      • Threatened Species Strategy 2015-2020
    • Threatened Species Recovery Fund
    • Threatened Species Scientific Committee
      • Committee members
    • Threatened species
      • Monitoring Flying-Fox Populations
        • Hendra virus
        • National environmental law
        • Policy statement
    • Threatened ecological communities
      • About threatened ecological communities
      • New South Wales
      • Northern Territory
      • Queensland
      • South Australia
      • Tasmania
      • Victoria
      • Western Australia
    • Common Assessment Method
    • Nominations
      • Nomination forms and guidelines
      • Proposed priority assessment list
      • Comment on listing assessments
      • Extensions to timeframes
      • Ineligible species
      • Ineligible ecological communities
      • Ineligible key threatening processes
      • Disallowed Ecological Communities
      • Ecological Communities not prioritised for assessment
      • Key threatening processes not prioritised for assessment
      • Species not prioritised for assessment
    • Species Expert Assessment Plan
    • Listing assessments
      • Process and timeframes
      • Finalised priority assessment lists
    • Conservation advices
    • Recovery plans
      • Proposed changes to conservation planning decisions
      • Recovery plans made or adopted
      • Recovery plans open for public comment
    • Key threatening processes
    • Recovery teams
      • Monitoring and reporting
      • National register
    • Threat abatement plans
      • Approved Threat abatement plans
      • Drafts and reviews open for public comment
    • Threat abatement advices
      • Buffel grass
        • Threat abatement actions
        • Resources
      • Invasive pasture grasses
        • Annual mission grass
        • Gamba grass
        • Olive hymenachne
        • Para grass
        • Perennial mission grass
    • Listed species and ecological community permits
      • Notification of activities
      • Protected species permits
    • Threatened species and ecological communities publications

Threatened ecological communities

Photo of Grassy Box Woodlands. Creator - Helena Mills

An ecological community is a naturally occurring group of native plants, animals and other organisms that are interacting in a unique habitat. Its structure, composition and distribution are determined by environmental factors such as soil type, position in the landscape, altitude, climate and water availability.

Types of ecological communities listed under national environmental law include woodlands, grasslands, shrublands, forests, wetlands, marine, ground springs and cave communities.

The native plants and animals within an ecological community have different roles and relationships that, together, contribute to the healthy functioning of the environment. Protecting native communities also supports ecosystem services such as clean air, clear land and clean water. These all contribute to better productivity of our land and water, which benefits people and society.

The Australian Government is working in partnership with state, territory and local governments, non-government organisations, tertiary institutions and community groups to ensure the protection, management and recovery of our native species and ecological communities.

Indicative distributions of the nationally listed Threatened Ecological Communities

  • Download the map of indicative distributions of the nationally listed Threatened Ecological Communities

Find a threatened ecological community

Map of AustraliaWestern AustraliaNorthern TerritorySouth AustraliaQueenslandNew South WalesVictoriaTasmaniaACT
  • Tasmania
  • New South Wales
  • Victoria
  • Queensland
  • South Australia
  • Western Australia
  • Northern Territory
  • Australian Capital Territory

For a full list of nationally listed threatened ecological communities see: EPBC Act List of Threatened Ecological Communities.

About threatened ecological communities

  • What are ecological communities and why are they important?
  • What is a threatened ecological community (TEC)?
  • Why does the Australian Government list threatened ecological communities?
  • How does an ecological community become listed as threatened?
  • What does listing a threatened ecological community achieve?
  • What does the listing of an ecological community mean for land managers or potential developers?
  • Is funding available to protect ecological communities?
  • How do nationally listed ecological communities relate to State & Territory listed ecological communities?
  • What threatened ecological communities are listed nationally?

Nominations for listing

The assessment of an ecological community as threatened is the first step to promoting their recovery under the Commonwealth law.

Any person may nominate an ecological community for listing under any of the three categories.

  • About nominations
  • Nomination process flowchart

An invitation to nominate is extended by the minister each year ahead of a new assessment cycle. Nominations received during the invitation period are considered by the Proposed priority assessment list

  • Making a nomination

Nominations included on the finalised priority assessment list are assessed by the committee, which makes these nominations available for public and expert comment.

After assessment, the committee's advice is forwarded to the minister, who decides whether an ecological community is eligible for listing under the EPBC Act.

  • Finalised priority assessment lists (FPAL)
  • Comment on nominations

More information

  • Ecological communities: A way forward, this paper seeks to improve the clarity and workability of these definitional issues, and to identify improved methods for assessing ecological communities.

Protecting listed threatened ecological communities

Once an ecological community is listed under the EPBC Act its recovery is promoted using conservation advice, recovery plans, and the EPBC Act's assessment and approval provisions.

Conservation advices

Conservation advice is developed by the Threatened Species Scientific Committee based on the best available information regarding the conservation status and threats to an ecological community at the time of listing. Conservation Advice provides guidance on known threats and priority recovery actions for an ecological community that can be immediately undertaken at a local and regional level.

  • Conservation advices
  • Search conservation advices by NRM region

Recovery plans

In addition to conservation advice, the Threatened Species Scientific Committee also provides to the minister a recommendation on the need for a recovery plan for listed ecological communities. Recovery plans are comprehensive management tools that enable recovery activities for threatened ecological communities to occur within a planned and logical framework. They describe key threats and identify specific recovery actions.

  • Recovery plans

Assessment and approval provisions

Listed threatened ecological communities are matters of national environmental significance (protected matters) under the EPBC Act assessment and approval provisions.

A person must not take an action that has, will have, or is likely to have, a significant impact on a listed threatened ecological community, without approval from the Australian Government Minister for the Environment.

To obtain approval, an action must undergo an environmental assessment and approval process. To find out whether an action is likely to have a 'significant' impact on a listed threatened ecological community, read the following:

  • Matters of national environmental significance
  • Environment assessment and approval process
  • EPBC Act policy statements

More information

To find out if a listed threatened ecological communities are on your property or area of interest, use the following tool:

  • Protected matters search tool

For a comprehensive understanding of the provisions relating to listed threatened ecological communities, you should refer directly to the:

  • Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999
  • Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Regulations 2000

See also: general information about the EPBC Act.

Public notices

Open for public comment under the EPBC Act:

  • Comment on nominations
  • Permits
  • Proposed changes to conservation planning decisions
  • Recovery plans
  • Referrals and assessments
  • Threat abatement plans
  • Wildlife trade applications

Subscribe

  • Communities for Communities Newsletter
  • Species information and EPBC Act policy

Search online

  • Species
    Species Profiles and Threats
  • Conservation advices
    By NRM region
  • Wetlands
    Australian Wetlands Database
  • Flora
    Databases and resources
  • Fauna
    Databases and resources
  • EPBC Act
    EPBC Referrals and public notices

EPBC Act Lists

  • Critical habitat
  • Key threatening processes
  • Migratory species
  • Recovery plans
  • Threat abatement plans
  • Threatened ecological communities
  • Threatened fauna
  • Threatened flora
  • Listings since commencement of the EPBC Act
  • Species and Ecological Communities removed from list
  • Data deficient species
  • Species and Ecological Communities assessed as ineligible
Thanks for your feedback.
Thanks! Your feedback has been submitted.

We aren't able to respond to your individual comments or questions.
To contact us directly phone us or submit an online inquiry

CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.

Please verify that you are not a robot.

Skip

Footer

  • Contact us
  • Accessibility
  • Disclaimer
  • Privacy
  • FOI
Last updated: 20 October 2021

© Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water

We acknowledge the Traditional Owners of country throughout Australia and recognise their continuing connection to land, waters and culture. We pay our respects to their Elders past, present and emerging.