Northern Quoll caught by a QSN Camera
Photo © Wildlife Queensland

The Australian Government Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities is responsible for administering the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act). The EPBC Act protects matters of national environmental significance, including listed threatened species.

An important role of the department is to provide the public and industry with guidance on the practical application of the EPBC Act. One way this is achieved is through the use of referral guidelines.

The department has developed EPBC Act referral guidelines for the endangered northern quoll applicable to actions and impacts across the species’ current and historic range throughout Queensland, The Northern Territory and Western Australia. Parts of its range are subject to extensive development pressures, a number of which are likely to affect the species. These guidelines are intended to assist you in determining whether a proposed action needs to be referred to the department, and include:

• information about habitat critical to the survival of the species
• survey guidelines
• updated distribution modelling
• best practice mitigation measures
• guidelines on when to refer, and
• guidelines on monitoring northern quoll

The key elements of the referral guidelines were developed during workshops with:

• scientific experts
• environmental consultants, and
• state threatened species managers.

The referral guidelines are now available on the internet. Alternatively, go to government website, and on the left hand column click 'EPBC Act', then 'Policy statements'.

The government are seeking final comments on the referral guidelines, particularly in relation to its usability and suggestions for improvement. They would also be interested in any new research or information on the species, including new records.

Comments can be emailed or faxed to 02 6274 2875 (for attention of Species Information Section).

Comments will be accepted until cob Friday 29 April 2011.

For more information on Wildlife Queensland's activities, call us on +61 7 3221 0194 or send us an email.