{"id":"F2022L00631","name":"List of Threatened Ecological Communities Amendment (EC55) Instrument 2022","slug":"list-of-threatened-ecological-communities-amendment-ec55-instrument-2022","collection":"legislative_instrument","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":102426,"registerId":"commonwealth-F2022L00631-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-03","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"List of Threatened Ecological Communities Amendment (EC55) Instrument 2022","content":"![Commonwealth of Australia coat of arms](image.001.png)\n\nCommonwealth of Australia\n\nList of Threatened Ecological Communities Amendment (EC55) Instrument 2022\n\nI, SUSSAN LEY, Minister for the Environment, pursuant to paragraph 184(a) of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999, amend the list referred to in section 181 of that Act by including in the list of threatened ecological communities in the endangered category:\n\nBrogo Vine Forest of the South East Corner Bioregion\n\nas described in the Schedule to this instrument.\n\nThis instrument commences the day after registration.\n\nSussan Ley\n\n...................................................................................\n\nSussan Ley\n\nMinister for the Environment\n\nDated ..............31 / 3 / 22.........................................................\n\n  \nSCHEDULE 1\n\nBrogo Vine Forest of the South East Corner Bioregion\n\nThe Brogo Vine Forest of the South East Corner Bioregion is an assemblage of native plants, animals and other organisms that comprise a type of temperate eucalypt forest with mesic elements associated with slopes, rock outcrops and northerly aspects.\n\nThe ecological community occurs in New South Wales within South East Corner bioregion and is typically distributed on steep rocky slopes on soils derived from granitoid substrates, rarely on other volcanic or sedimentary soils.\n\nThe vegetation structure is typically a medium-height forest with sparse to moderate canopy cover dominated by Eucalyptus or Angophora species. The canopy is characterised by the dominance of Eucalyptus tereticornis (forest red gum) or sometimes Angophora floribunda (rough-barked apple). Varying proportions of these species are expected to be present at most sites, in association with less frequently occurring Eucalyptus species such as E. bosistoana (coast grey box), E. globoidea (white stringybark) and E. maidenii (Maiden’s blue gum). Ficus rubiginosa (Port Jackson fig) may be the dominant tree in a discontinuous subcanopy layer.\n\nThe understorey shrubs and small trees are linked to the ground cover by a variety of vine species including Celastrus australis (staff climber), Geitonoplesium cymosum (scrambling lily), Clematis glycinoides (headache vine), Eustrephus latifolius (wombat berry), Marsdenia rostrata (milk vine) and Stephania japonica (snake vine). Small trees may include Acacia implexa (hickory wattle), Acacia mearnsii (black wattle), Brachychiton populneus (Kurrajong), Ficus rubiginosa (Port Jackson fig) and Pittosporum undulatum (sweet pittosporum). A diverse shrub layer typically includes Cassinia trinerva (three-veined cassinia), Breynia oblongifolia (coffee bush) and Melicytus dentatus (tree violet). Infrequent but very characteristic species are Abutilon oxycarpum (flannel weed) and Deeringia amaranthoides (deeringia). The understorey may also include juvenile trees of canopy species.\n\nThe ground cover consists of various grasses such as Cenchrus caliculatus (hillside burrgrass), Microlaena stipoides (weeping grass), Echinopogon ovatus (forest hedgehog grass) and Oplismenus imbecillis (creeping beard grass), herbs such as Oxytes brachypodum (large tick-trefoil), Dichondra repens (kidney weed) and Sigesbeckia orientalis (Indian weed) and ferns such as Cheilanthes sieberi (poison rock fern) and Pellaea falcata (sickle fern).\n\nThe ecological community includes a variety of fauna species, including several species that are listed as threatened at a national or state level.","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"flash_summary_failed":{"failed":true,"reason":"A positive credit balance is required for all requests, including BYOK, so fallback providers remain available. Add credits at https://vercel.com/d?to=%2F%5Bteam%5D%2F%7E%2Fai%3Fmodal%3Dtop-up to continue.","source":"analysis-cron"},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"This instrument performs exactly the function intended by its enabling provision — adding a specific ecological community to the threatened list. The detailed botanical description in the Schedule is standard practice for ecological community listings and does not represent scope creep."},"complexity_factors":["Single, discrete amendment adding one ecological community to an existing list","No defined terms section — relies on external definitions in the parent EPBC Act","No conditional logic or exceptions within the instrument itself","Straightforward descriptive schedule with botanical and ecological detail","No cross-references to other legislation beyond the enabling provision (paragraph 184(a) and section 181 of the EPBC Act)","Length: approximately 1.5 pages of substantive content"],"plain_english_summary":"This instrument adds the Brogo Vine Forest (a temperate eucalypt vine forest in the South East Corner bioregion) to the EPBC Act list of endangered ecological communities. That means landowners, developers, regulators, councils and conservation groups in the area face stricter federal oversight: actions likely to significantly impact this limited, biodiverse forest now require federal approval and may trigger recovery planning and conservation funding."},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":true,"description":"This instrument expands the statutory list of threatened ecological communities by adding the Brogo Vine Forest in the endangered category (instrument text). It does not amend criteria, penalties, funding or procedural rules; the instrument’s practical legal consequences derive from existing provisions of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (see paragraph 184(a) and s181)."},"complexity_factors":["Single, narrow amendment: only adds one ecological community to the list (instrument body).","Direct statutory reference: made pursuant to paragraph 184(a) of the EPBC Act and amends the list referred to in s181 (instrument preamble).","Technical ecological description: Schedule relies on specialist botanical and ecological identifiers (species lists, substrates, vegetation structure) for legal determination of the community.","Implementation dependency: practical legal effects depend on other provisions of the EPBC Act and administrative practice rather than this instrument itself.","Immediate commencement: takes effect the day after registration, limiting transitional time for stakeholders (instrument text).","Ministerial authorship: change is effected by Ministerial instrument, reflecting executive decision-making rather than primary legislation."],"plain_english_summary":"This instrument adds the “Brogo Vine Forest of the South East Corner Bioregion” to the Commonwealth list of threatened ecological communities in the endangered category under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. It commences the day after registration.\n\nIt affects land managers, development proponents and regulators by bringing this specific ecological community into the EPBC Act’s listing framework (see para 184(a) and s181); the Schedule describes the community’s defining vegetation, soils, distribution and characteristic species."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/list-of-threatened-ecological-communities-amendment-ec55-instrument-2022","history":"/api/acts/list-of-threatened-ecological-communities-amendment-ec55-instrument-2022/history","analysis":"/api/acts/list-of-threatened-ecological-communities-amendment-ec55-instrument-2022/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/list-of-threatened-ecological-communities-amendment-ec55-instrument-2022/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/list-of-threatened-ecological-communities-amendment-ec55-instrument-2022/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/list-of-threatened-ecological-communities-amendment-ec55-instrument-2022/documents"}}