Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2022L00555:body:0:p13
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be greater than $2.5 billion annually (extrapolated from 1996 figures) (Hundloe and Hamilton 1997). Today, this figure would be expected to be significantly greater.
Australians, especially children, have a special place in their heart for Koalas. Adults of today were raised as children on the adventures of Blinky Bill, the Magic Pudding, and Snugglepot and Cuddlepie (Phillips 1990), while modern stories familiar to today's children that include Koala characters include Wombat Stew and Koala Lou.
Many Australians are also deeply passionate about the conservation of their local Koala populations as exemplified by the many Friends' groups, dedicated Koala hospitals, wildlife rehabilitation groups, carers and research organisations that work on Koala conservation and the welfare and rehabilitation of individual animals.
Overseas visitors admiring a Koala. Image: © Moonlit Sanctuary, Victoria

2. Conservation status
The Koala (combined populations in Queensland, New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory) was uplisted from Vulnerable to Endangered in December 2021 under the EPBC Act (TSSC 2021).
The national Koala population was split due to contrasting conservation status across its range. Most of the populations in New South Wales and Queensland were found to be declining rapidly, whereas most of the populations in Victoria and South Australia were considered relatively stable, or in some cases, over-abundant. This required divergent management responses between the two clusters of states. Following advice from the Threatened Species Scientific Committee (TSSC) the northern population (Queensland, New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory) of the Koala was determined to be a species for the purposes of the EPBC Act under s 517 (TSSC 2012c).
The listed Koala is considered Vulnerable under state and territory legislation in Queensland, New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory. The Koala also occurs in Victoria and South Australia, where it is not considered threatened. In contrast to other states, overall the populations of the Koala in Victoria and South Australia are largely stable, although in places such as the Otway Ranges (Victoria) and Kangaroo Island (South Australia) the Koala is intensively managed due to over-abundance (at least prior to the 2019–2020 summer bushfires). The (International Union for Conservation of Nature) IUCN Red List of Threatened species lists the whole population of the Koala (that is, including Victoria and South Australia) as Vulnerable. Table 1 provides a summary of the conservation status of the Koala.
Table 1: International, national, state and territory conservation status of the Koala
Legislation                                                                                                        Conservation status
Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999                                                      Endangered
Phascolarctos cinereus (combined populations in Queensland, New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory)
Nature Conservation Act 1992 (Qld)                                                                                 Vulnerable
Koala (Phascolarctos cinereus)
Biodiversity Conservation ACT 2016 (NSW)                                                                           Vulnerable
Koala (Phascolarctos cinereus)
Nature Conservation Act 2014 (ACT)                                                                                 Vulnerable