This species was previously in Symphyllia, but is now placed in Australophyllia (Arrigoni et al. 2016, Huang et al. 2016).

This uncommon species has a patchy and restricted range in Western Australia. The estimated area of occupancy (AOO) is less than 2,000 km² but greater than 500 km². It is susceptible to major threats from removal for the aquarium trade and is inferred to be susceptible to bleaching. Intrinsic characteristics, including occurring in naturally low densities, potential population fragmentation and slow growth rate cause this species to likely be susceptible to declines. It is listed as Vulnerable B2ab(iii,v).

This species is distributed off Western Australia from Port Hedland south to Bremer Bay (Arrigoni et al. 2016, Huang et al. 2016, iDigBio online database accessed July 2022, Smith et al. 2022). 

The depth range is 2-15 m (Arrigoni et al. 2016, Smith et al. 2022).

According to the 2018 UNEP-WCMC global coral reef distribution map, the area of coral reef from 0-30 m depth within the range of this species is 890 km². This naturally uncommon species is patchily distributed within this area and occurs in non coral dominated habitats, including rocky shores that are not included in the WCMC map, and therefore, its area of occupancy (AOO) is inferred to be less than 2,000 km² but greater than 500 km².

This species is usually uncommon but conspicuous (Veron et al. 2016). It is relatively poorly known (Arrigoni et al. 2016). Stock structure of its population is unknown, but tropical and temperate populations may be genetically different. It can occur in high densities in some areas, but mostly occurs in low densities within its range (Smith et al. 2022).

This species typically occurs on subtidal rocky foreshores in temperate localities (Veron et al. 2016). It occurs in relatively cool waters and can regularly be found growing in kelp forest (Smith et al. 2022). This species is a hermaphroditic broadcast spawner (Baird and Thomson 2018). Based on intrinsic characteristics of the species and anecdotal reports from observed growth in captivity, it is inferred to have a slow growth rate (Smith et al. 2022).

The age at first maturity of most reef-building corals is typically three to eight years (Wallace 1999). Based on this, we infer that the average age of mature individuals of this species is greater than eight years. Based on average sizes and growth rates, we also infer that the average length of one generation is 10 years. Longevity is not known, but is likely to be greater than 10 years. Therefore, any population decline rates estimated for the purposes of this Red List assessment are measured over a time period of 30 years.

This species is moderately susceptible to bleaching. Intrinsic characteristics, including occurring in naturally low densities, potential population fragmentation and slow growth rate cause this species to likely be susceptible to declines. Similar species occurring in eastern Australia are very susceptible to bleaching (Smith et al. 2022). There is concern for impacts on the population of this species from exploitation for the aquarium trade (Smith et al. 2022). The collection of this species for the aquarium trade may lead to overharvest and localised reductions in abundance, especially for populations of naturally rare species (Bruckner and Borneman 2006). However, the wild collection of corals is highly selective and considered low impact in the long-term relative to other activities such as coral mining and dynamite fishing (Green and Shirley 1999, Pratchett et al. 2020). 

In general, the major threat to corals is global climate change, in particular, temperature extremes leading to bleaching and increased susceptibility to disease, increased severity of ENSO events and storms, and ocean acidification. Bleaching causes coral mortality, disrupts coral reproduction and diminishes coral recruitment.

Coral disease has emerged as a serious threat to coral reefs worldwide with increases in numbers of diseases, coral species affected, and geographic extent (Ward et al. 2004, Sutherland et al. 2004, Sokolow et al. 2009). Outbreaks of coral diseases have damaged coral reefs worldwide with the most widespread, virulent, and longest running coral disease outbreak currently occurring on the Florida Reef Tract and throughout the Caribbean. The disease, stony coral tissue loss disease, has been ongoing since 2014 (Precht et al. 2016) and has devastated affected reefs along Florida (Walton et al. 2018, Williams et al. 2021) and throughout the Caribbean (Alvarez-Filip et al. 2019, Kramer et al. 2019). Numerous disease outbreaks have also occurred in the Indo-Pacific (Willis et al. 2004, Aeby et al. 2011; 2016), Indian Ocean (Raj et al. 2016) and Persian Gulf (Howells et al. 2020). Escalating anthropogenic stressors combined with the threats associated with global climate change of increases in coral disease, frequency and duration of coral bleaching and ocean acidification place coral reefs in the Indo-Pacific at high risk of collapse. 

Localized threats to corals include fisheries, human development (industry, settlement, tourism, and transportation), changes in native species dynamics (competitors, predators, pathogens and parasites), invasive species (competitors, predators, pathogens and parasites), dynamite fishing, chemical fishing, pollution from agriculture and industry, domestic pollution, sedimentation, and human recreation and tourism activities. The severity of these combined threats to the global population of each individual species is not known.

This species is highly desired and exploited for the aquarium trade. The highest concentration of catches occur in the West Coast Bioregion around Cape Naturalist/Geographe Bay (Smith et al. 2022). Summary of the reported catch (kg) of this species in the main coral species landed from the Marine Aquarium Fish Managed Fishery for 2018, and catches over the previous four years: 43, 57, 207, and 170 kg (Lewis and Blay 2018). On a global level, this species is moderately traded for aquaria, with 1,000-10,000 pieces being collected from the wild and exported annually between 2010-2020 (CITES 2021).

All stony corals (Order: Scleractinia) are listed on CITES Appendix II, and under Annex B of the European Union Wildlife Trade Regulations. Moreover, several countries (e.g., India, Israel, Jordan, Djibouti, Fiji and the Philippines) at various stages have banned either the trade or the export of CITES II listed species, which includes all stony corals. Other countries such as Indonesia, trade maricultured corals, with quotas, production limit and regulations in place to ensure the trade is sustainable. Having timely access to national-level trade data from CITES is valuable for monitoring trends for this species. Consideration of the suitability of species for aquaria should also be included as part of fisheries management, and population surveys should be carried out to monitor the effects of harvesting alongside other population trends.

Research on the population/stock structure, growth rate and potential impacts from exploitation is needed (Smith et al. 2022).