Monitoring is fundamental to good policy and effective conservation management. Data derived from monitoring underpin the process for listing of species as threatened, which is a precursor to recognition in policy. When monitoring programs are well designed, they provide critical information to diagnose causes of decline, identify priorities for additional research, evaluate management effectiveness and assess the urgency of management. Monitoring can also be a powerful tool for engaging the community. One of the first projects initiated by the TSR Hub was to gather monitoring experts, and managers who need and use monitoring information, from all over Australia to discuss the value of, and many challenges involved in, monitoring threatened biodiversity. The workshop led to an authoritative edited book Monitoring Threatened Species and Ecological Communities, due for release in early 2018.