Wilderness Society court case species finally see draft recovery plans

After over a decade of delay, the federal government last week released draft recovery plans for two wildlife species that are the subject of a court case brought by the Wilderness Society. On 2 July, the government released draft recovery plans for public consultation for the Australian lungfish and sandhill dunnart. Both species have never had a recovery plan, despite former Environment Minister Peter Garrett deciding they needed one in November 2009. 

The draft plans were published on the consultation portal of the Department for Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW). A previous draft was published and consulted on in May 2017 for the Australian lungfish and in April 2020 for the sandhill dunnart. The Wilderness Society says the recovery plans were legally required to be in force within three years of Minister Garrett’s decision in November 2009, but this was not done.   

Sam Szoke-Burke, Biodiversity Policy and Campaign Manager for the Wilderness Society said: 

“Australia is the worst in the world for mammal extinctions and second worst for biodiversity loss. Yet government after government has neglected to comply with mandated functions and duties to protect and foster recovery of Australian wildlife and plants. 

“In the face of inaction, we felt we had no option other than to resort to the courts to compel the Federal government to do its job: we believe that includes making recovery plans for these unique and important animals. 

“While we welcome renewed law reform efforts to strengthen existing environmental protections, the Albanese government must use the tools it already has to give Australia’s iconic and unique species a fighting chance at survival before it is too late. The law says recovery plans must be in force, and we say complying with environmental laws should not be a high bar for Australia’s Environment Minister.” 

Ellen Maybery, senior specialist lawyer at Environmental Justice Australia said:

“Recovery plans are one of the few legally enforceable tools to stop Australia's wildlife sliding into extinction. That’s why our client brought legal proceedings: to ensure the environment minister follows the law. Drafts aren’t enough. We need a system that delivers timely, effective recovery plans – not just paperwork that sits on a shelf.”

“It’s promising to see new draft recovery plans for the lungfish and sandhill dunnart. But there are still hundreds of missing or expired plans. Our client is asking the court to confirm that the law requires these recovery plans to be made.”

Under Australia’s environment law, the Environment Minister is tasked with making recovery plans for threatened species. These plans are like a rescue roadmap. They lay out the steps needed to help species thrive in the wild again.

But successive Environment Ministers have failed to make recovery plans for hundreds of threatened species that are in desperate need of protection.

The publication of the drafts for consultation could show that the plans may be moving closer to completion. However, both species have previously had a draft recovery plan published for public consultation, indicating this is not guaranteed. The drafts come roughly four months after the Wilderness Society, represented by Environmental Justice Australia, issued legal proceedings.

The legal proceedings brought by the Wilderness Society, represented by Environmental Justice Australia, against the Federal Environment Minister in March 2025 allege that successive Environment Ministers failed to create legally-required recovery plans for at least eleven threatened species, including the Australian lungfish and the sandhill dunnart. We say it’s the Environment Minister’s job to make recovery plans for threatened species and that, despite decades of outcry, and thousands of native Aussie plants and animals joining the extinction queue, government after government have not been doing their job. Given the past delays in developing recovery plans for the lungfish and the dunnart, we believe the case remains critical to ensure that recovery plans for these and other species do not remain unfinished for another decade. 

More information about the sandhill dunnart

• Sandhill dunnarts are elusive, carnivorous nocturnal marsupials found in intact spinifex habitat in arid sand dunes of South Australia and Western Australia.
• Protecting remnant sandplain ecosystems from land clearing—including north of the Nullarbor Plain—is crucial for their survival.
• Sandhill dunnarts are now located in three widely separated areas. Because their range has declined, it’s assumed that the extent and quality of their habitat, and the number of mature individuals, is also in decline (Conservation advice, 2015).

More information about the Australian lungfish

• Australian lungfish are living fossils of immense scientific importance, found in Queensland’s Mary and Burnett Rivers. They are the closest living relative to land-dwelling tetrapods—the ancient relative of whales, dinosaurs and humans.
• Australian lungfish have a single lung and the unique ability to breathe air when there’s no water, or through their five pairs of gills.
• Protecting river flows and preventing habitat destruction are critical for their survival.
• They have poor eyesight and can use electroreception (ability to sense electric fields) to locate hidden prey like frogs, earthworms, small fish, shrimp and snails.
• They grow very slowly and live for decades—with one estimated to have lived to the age of 109. An Australian lungfish named Methuselah, living in the California Academy of Sciences’ Steinhart Aquarium, has been there since the 1930s.
• There has been a 26% reduction in the quality of their breeding and nursery habitat in the main channels of the Burnett and Mary Rivers. As a result of this, it’s predicted the adult breeding population will undergo a substantial decline over the next three generations (Listing advice, 2003).

For interviews with Sam Szoke-Burke, please contact Sam at [email protected]