About this policy statement
Thirty-seven international migratory shorebird species regularly visit Australia each year. These species are listed as migratory under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act). Listed migratory species are a matter of national environmental significance.
This policy statement is intended to provide a guide for stakeholders in assessing the likelihood of a proposed action having a significant impact on one or more migratory shorebird species in Australia.
The policy statement should be read in conjunction with Significant impact guidelines 1.1 - matters of national environmental significance.
There may be other EPBC Act policy statements which provide further guidance.
To determine population thresholds needed to identify important habitats, the department uses Swinderen et al. (2025). Revision of the East Asian – Australasian Flyway Population Estimates for 37 listed Migratory Shorebird Species.