Nominating items for the Flora and Fauna Guarantee List (FFG Act List)
Any person or organisation can nominate an item to the Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) for addition to or deletion from the Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988 (FFG Act) Threatened List or the Processes List.
You may also nominate an already listed taxon for reassessment. You may wish to do this if you can provide evidence that the taxon is eligible to be listed in a higher or lower category of threat. For example, upon reassessment a taxon could move from the endangered to the critically endangered category or vice versa.
Nomination and listing process
Any person or organisation (including the SAC) can make a nomination under the FFG Act. The SAC oversees an assessment of all nominations and amendments. A preliminary recommendation is then published and open for public comment for 30 days. After this, the SAC makes a final recommendation to the Minister for Environment and the Minister for Agriculture. The Ministers will then make and publicise a Notice of Decision.
Before you nominate
It’s recommended you check that the item you wish to nominate hasn’t already been listed by looking at the currently listed taxa, community and threatening processes and the EPBC list of listed taxa.
Please use the following template and guidance document to nominate a taxon:
Nomination template for a taxon (DOCX, 74.5 KB)
Nomination guidance for a taxon (PDF, 353.8 KB)
Nomination guidance for a taxon (DOCX, 96.6 KB)
Please use the following templates to nominate a community or potentially threatening process:
Nomination template for communities (DOCX, 71.4 KB)
Nomination template for processes (DOCX, 67.3 KB)
If you require assistance please contact the SAC secretariat:
The FFG Act includes a legal requirement that a nomination must be made in writing. Please address to:
sac.secretariat@delwp.vic.gov.au
or
Secretary, Scientific Advisory Committee
Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action (DEECA)
PO Box 500 East Melbourne 3002
The SAC meets approximately 5 times a year. You may be required to wait up to 3 months before your nomination is considered, dependent on the meeting schedule and when you submit your nomination.
The FFG Act states that only nature conservation matters can be taken into account by the SAC in making its recommendations.
Economic, cultural, social, management or any other issues are not considered by the SAC or the Ministers in deciding whether a taxon, community or potentially threatening process should be added to or removed from the list.
The listing process focuses solely on the nominated item. It is not a development approval or project assessment process like that provided by the assessment process of the Environment Effects Act 1978, or the protected flora or fauna permit processes of the FFG Act and the Wildlife Act 1975.
The SAC is free to supplement any nomination with additional information. However, if a nomination has major omissions, it may be returned to the nominator with a request for additional information. Without adequate information, it is unlikely that the SAC will be able to assess the nomination.
The FFG Act requires that a nomination should include a minimum amount of information, known as prescribed information. Nominations without this information may be rejected by the SAC. The prescribed information is set out at Schedule 4 of the FFG Regulations 2020 and includes:
Nominator's name(s), contact details and signature(s)
Note: Your details are subject to the provisions of the Privacy and Data Protection Act 2014 (see the nomination template for the Privacy Collection Statement).
- Identification of the nominated item - this is important to ensure that there is no ambiguity or confusion on the subject of the nomination.
- For a new taxon, at least one specimen should be lodged with a recognised scientific institution (e.g. a new species of plant should be lodged with the National Herbarium, and a new insect species at the Museum of Victoria). This is necessary because it is possible that an item may be nominated as a new taxon, but then turn out to be a variant of a common taxon.
- For a community, a statement of identification is required. The statement must specify the community according to a relevant text or reference, or it must describe the community in such a way that it is distinguished from all other communities in the State. The description should include reference to the community's identifying biological and physical characteristics and, if known to the nominator, the determining biological or non-biological components, environmental features or processes. Where possible, avoid using a geographic name in the community's name, as this can lead to a perception that the site is more important than the actual community type, which may occur in several localities, not just the named one. Preferable wording is "the community of flora and fauna characterised by species X, Y, and Z", and a shorter nickname can be provided.
- For a potentially threatening process, a statement of identification is required. The statement must specify the potentially threatening process in accordance with a relevant text or reference or it must describe the potentially threatening process in such a way that it is distinguishable from all other potentially threatening processes. A potentially threatening process must be defined as a process and not as a cause or a symptom of a process. (e.g. "Soil disturbance caused by mining" could be nominated as a threatening process. "Mining" would not be nominated because it is the cause of the threatening process, not the process itself.)
- Supporting evidence
- The nomination must also indicate:
- evidence to support eligibility for addition to or removal from the Threatened List or the Processes List
- the criterion or criteria that the nominator believes to be satisfied
- evidence to show how the nominated item satisfies the criterion or criteria - for removal from the list, evidence must be provided to show that the item does not satisfy any of the criteria for listing.
- The nomination must also indicate:
If a taxon below the sub-species level or a narrowly defined community is being nominated, then in addition to evidence showing that a relevant primary criterion is satisfied, a statement of evidence of a special nature conservation need to conserve the item should also be included.
- Criteria satisfied, and the reasons why
Anyone nominating an item for listing must present evidence that the item meets the criteria to be listed or 'de-listed' as set out in the FFG Regulations. Brief, specific evidence of population size, decline, or critical information relevant to susceptibility to future threats, should be provided.
These information requirements are not intended to make it difficult for people to make nominations, but rather to prevent delays in processing nominations. Nominators need to present a reasonable case so that the SAC can efficiently make a judgment on whether an item is threatened or a potentially threatening process and should be listed, or whether an item is no longer eligible and should be de-listed.
The SAC may reject a listing nomination if:
- - the subject of the nomination is already listed
- - the nomination is for a recategorisation amendment (e.g. upgrading or downgrading a listed taxon) and the SAC considers that a reassessment would not result in a change to the category of threat
- - the nomination is vexatious
- - the nomination is not accompanied by the prescribed information.
-the subject of the nomination is not normally considered to be indigenous to Victoria;- - the subject of the nomination is long extinct (i.e. known only from fossil evidence) or does not exist
The item being nominated must also meet the basic eligibility requirements of the FFG Act. For example, a nomination could be rejected because
Nominations for taxa or communities must provide information to demonstrate that the taxon or community is threatened with extinction in Victoria. You may also provide information about the taxon’s status in other States and Territories.
The FFG Act and CAM now require that assessments must first consider the risk of extinction in Australia. DEECA and the SAC will liaise with the Commonwealth Government and other States and Territories to determine the need for and then undertake a national assessment. If the taxon is not considered nationally threatened or is not prioritised for national assessment by the other jurisdictions, the SAC will progress your nomination based on a Victorian assessment.
Nominations must deal with the state-wide distribution of an item. If a taxon or community is locally rare but common elsewhere in the State, then it may not be eligible for listing. For example, a particular orchid species may be extremely rare on the Mornington Peninsula, but would not normally be eligible for listing if it was common and secure elsewhere in Victoria. If, however, the Mornington Peninsula population represents an identifiable taxon such as a variety or form below the sub-species level which is threatened, then it may be eligible for listing, provided there is a special nature conservation need to conserve it.
Potentially threatening processes that do not operate throughout the State may be eligible for listing if overall, they pose a significant threat to the survival of a range of flora or fauna.
Nominations should not be site-specific. The taxon, community or potentially threatening process should be defined by its biological characteristics and if known, its environmental characteristics; it shouldn't be described simply in terms of one isolated population (unless of course, only one population exists in the state). An area of remnant bushland, however valuable at a regional level, may not be eligible for listing if it is of a type that is fairly widespread and not threatened state-wide.
When producing evidence, always state your source of information correctly and in detail. In the case of unpublished evidence, if you are the main authority for the subject, please provide the name of a referee who can vouch for your standing and authority. If in your nomination you are quoting information that has been given to you by an experienced person (i.e. a personal communication, often referred to in scientific articles as 'pers. comm.'), please indicate who they are and their standing as an authority. Quoting 'Smith (pers. comm.)' is insufficient if the SAC doesn't know who 'Smith' is.
Please make every effort to ensure that the scientific name used for a nominated taxon is the correct one, and that it is spelt correctly. Refer to the list of useful references for assistance.
A taxon below the sub-species level (e.g. a race or variety) or a narrowly defined community may only be eligible for listing if there is a special nature conservation need to conserve the item. Evidence of this need must be stated in the nomination.
Page last updated: 31/08/23