We define important habitat as that which, if removed, would lead to a material increase in extinction risk for a threatened species. Operationally, application of the concept will vary from species to species according to the availability of knowledge. Here we illustrate how important habitat can be consistently identified in a regulatory setting. We illustrate this using three case study species – Greater glider, Growling grass frog, and Long-footed potoroo; and three modelling approaches – Spatially explicit population viability analysis (PVA), metapopulation modelling and habitat suitability models (HSM).