Protected flora
Protected flora are native plants that have legal protection under the Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988 (FFG Act). In many circumstances, it is an offence to ‘take’ (meaning kill, injure, disturb or collect), trade, keep, move or process protected flora.
The protected flora list includes plants from 3 sources:
- Plant taxa (species, subspecies or varieties) listed as threatened under the FFG Act
- Plant taxa belonging to communities listed as threatened under the FFG Act
- Plant taxa that are declared protected by the Minister. These are taxa which are not threatened but require protection for other reasons. For example, some species which are attractive or highly sought after, such as orchids and grass trees, are protected so that the removal of these species from the wild can be controlled.
Declared Protected Flora Guidelines
The Declared Protected Flora Guidelines provide decision-making guidance to assist in determining whether to recommend that a certain species of flora should be declared protected. The guidelines aim to promote consistency and transparency and ensure that there is clear rationale for each taxon’s declaration as protected flora. These guidelines relate only to protections under the FFG Act, however, other regulations (e.g., native vegetation regulations) may also apply.
These guidelines do not apply where the flora is already a threatened species or part of a threatened community as these groups are already ‘protected flora’.
Declared Protected Flora Guidelines (PDF, 7.4 MB)
Declared Protected Flora Guidelines (DOCX, 3.9 MB)
Declared Protected Flora Guidelines (accessible) (DOCX, 279.3 KB)
Protected flora list
The Declared Protected Flora List has been updated on 16 May 2024 to reflect the principles in the Declared Protected Flora Guidelines. Some taxa have had their protection status change or have been moved to the Threatened Species List. The document below outlines these changes.
Declared protected flora - Summary of changes (PDF, 232.8 KB)
Declared protected flora categories
The FFG Act creates two categories of protected flora; ‘restricted use protected flora’, and all other protected flora (referred to as ‘generally protected flora’).
These categories have separate controls in place regarding how people interact with them, and separate penalties if people don’t adhere to them.
‘Restricted use protected flora’ are those flora that are exclusively impacted by take for commercial or personal use (e.g., not at risk from other activities). Take for other reasons (e.g., take incidental to track maintenance etc.) isn’t restricted as long as reasonable care is taken not to impact the taxon.
‘Generally protected flora’ refers to all other protected flora that are impacted by take for all other reasons (e.g., development, infrastructure maintenance works, etc.) and can include those species at risk of both commercial/personal take and incidental take.
Applying for a protected flora permit
If you intend to take protected flora, you may require a permit or licence. For information on how to apply for a protected flora permit, please see the Conservation Regulator page.
Listed fish
Overview of listed fish
In Victoria, the taking, trading in and keeping of fish listed on the Threatened List is regulated under both the FFG Act and the Fisheries Act 1995.
Under section 52 of the FFG Act, it is an offence to take, trade in or keep listed fish without a licence or unless authorised by an order published in the Government Gazette.
The FFG (Taking, Trading in or Keeping of Listed Fish) Order No. 1/2020 authorises the taking, trading in and keeping of several species of listed fish, subject to terms and conditions. Restrictions may apply to the size and number of fish that can be caught, location, time of year and method of take, to ensure the level of take is sustainable. The order allows the take of the following listed fish in accordance with the conditions set out in the order:
- Flat-headed Gudgeon or Bull-headed Gudgeon (Philypnodongrandiceps)
- Freshwater Catfish (Tandanus tandanus)
- Golden Perch (Macquaria ambigua)
- Macquarie Perch (Macquaria australasica)
- Murray Cod (Maccullochella peelii)
- Murray Spiny Freshwater Crayfish (Euastacus armatus)
- Silver Perch (Bidyanus bidyanus)
- Southern Bluefin Tuna (Thunnus maccoyii)
- Trout Cod (Maccullochella macquariensis)
- Western Carp Gudgeon (Hypseleotris kluzingeri)
Applying for a listed fish permit
If you wish to take, trade and/or keep protected fish outside of the conditions of the FFG order, you will require a listed fish permit.
For information on how to apply for a listed fish permit, please visit the Conservation Regulator website.
Page last updated: 06/06/24