The Rural Lands Protection Act 1998, unlike its legislative predecessor, requires the Crown to control pest animals declared under the Act. It establishes conditions that must be met before animals can be classified as pests and before pest animal control obligations can be introduced on public land in New South Wales. The Act prevents threatened species being classified as pest animals.

An application to list dingoes as a threatened species under the Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995 creates the potential for conflict between these two Acts. In this paper we describe the interaction between these Acts and the practical consequences arising from them. We also describe a proposed approach to wild dog control orders that binds the Crown under the Rural Lands Protection Act 1998, and hopefully enables dingoes to be conserved in New South Wales.