The Minister may, by order, list a native species or an ecological community as threatened or specially protected. Once a species or ecological community is listed under the Act, the Minister must authorise the taking, disturbance or modification, and significant penalties apply. This listing is provided under the Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016.
International Union for Conservation of Nature criteria are used for assigning species and ecological communities to threat categories. The categories provided for in the Act are critically endangered, endangered, vulnerable and extinct.
