Species Technical Committee

The Queensland Species Technical Committee (STC) assesses native species that occur in Queensland to determine their conservation status under the Nature Conservation Act 1992 (NC Act).

The STC is an advisory body appointed by the Minister for the Environment and the Great Barrier Reef, Minister for Science and Minister for Multicultural Affairs (the Minister) and includes both external and Queensland Government content experts.

To assess the conservation status of a species the STC must receive a nomination that is compliant with the Intergovernmental Memorandum of Understanding – Agreement on a Common Assessment Method for listing of threatened species and threatened ecological communities (CAM) and incorporates up-to-date scientific information. Learn more about the Common Assessment Method.

The STC is responsible for assessing listing nominations for Queensland endemic species, that is, species with their only Australian distribution within Queensland. The Australian Government is generally responsible for assessing species that naturally occur in more than one Australian state or territory, otherwise referred to as multi-jurisdictional species. Assessments done by the Australian Government are reviewed and endorsed by the STC prior to making recommendations to the Minister for listing under the NC Act.

The STC may either recommend a species be listed as nominated, be listed in a different threatened species class, or not be listed in any threatened species class. The STC may also defer assessment because insufficient information has been presented to assess the nomination. In this case the STC will allow more time for the nominator to provide further information. If a species is in decline or subject to a significant threat but doesn’t meet CAM criteria for listing as a threatened species, it may be assessed as Near Threatened.

View the STC Terms of Reference and committee membership and functions on the Register of Appointees to Queensland Government Bodies.

STC meeting dates

The Species Technical Committee meets a minimum of twice per year.

2023 scheduled meeting dates:

1 December 2023

Previous meeting dates:

23 August 2023
1 June 2023
1 March 2023
1 November 2022
3 August 2022
19 and 20 January 2022
28 April 2021
3 February 2021
15 September 2020
17 June 2020
25 March 2020
26 September 2019
27 March 2019

Nominations received by the STC

At each meeting the STC aims to consider all nominations and assessments accrued since the previous meeting. These may include:

Queensland endemic species not previously listed, or those assessed by the Australian Government in advance of a NC Act assessment by the STC
Species occurring in Queensland and other Australian states or territories (multi-jurisdictional species) that have been referred by other Australian jurisdictions responsible for assessing and listing threatened species
Currently NC Act listed threatened species that require rapid reassessment. For example: to be up-dated with important new scientific data; in response to an urgent emerging threat (such as an extensive or intense bushfire), or; to be considered for alignment with the CAM conservation status allocated by another relevant jurisdiction.

STC assessment reports and recommendations

Following each STC meeting an assessment report is produced containing the list of species nominated and the results of the assessments undertaken. These reports support STC recommendations to the Minister on the required changes to species’ conservation status under the Nature Conservation Act 1992.

Further information

Nomination form (DOCX, 198KB) to change the conservation status of a species under the Queensland Nature Conservation Act 1992.

Last updated:: 5 January 2024

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