The natural habitat requirements of the species have proved difficult to define because it has been associated with almost every type of water body except fast-flowing streams (Pyke and White 1996). There also appears to be some confusion over whether or not forested habitats are utilized by the species (Lemckert 1996, Gillespie 1996). Pyke and White (1996) examined sites where the species is known to have been present, and compared the habitat at sites where breeding was identified, with that at locations where breeding was not identified, in New South Wales. Sites which supported breeding populations were found to contain waterbodies which are still, shallow, ephemeral, unpolluted, unshaded, with aquatic plants and generally free of Gambusia and other predatory fish (but not always); adjacent terrestrial habitats consisted of grassy areas and vegetation no higher than woodlands, and a range of diurnal shelter sites. Breeding occurred in a significantly higher proportion of sites with ephemeral ponds rather than sites with fluctuating or permanent ponds, and where predatory fish were absent. Mahony (1999) commented on the limitations of the study and suggested that the results do not necessarily identify the requirements of the species prior to declines. It is worthy to note that the use of ephemeral breeding sites was not a feature associated with members of the bell frog group in earlier habitat descriptions (Mahony 1999).

Pyke and White (1996) suggest that its habitat requirements of in New South Wales and Victoria differ. In New South Wales the species occupies disturbed habitats and breeding largely occurs in ephemeral ponds (Pyke and White 1996). However, in Victoria it occupies habitats with little human disturbance and commonly breeds in permanent ponds as well as ephemeral ponds (Pyke and White 1996). Goldingay (1996) argued that this is because most natural habitats are degraded or lost in New South Wales. In Victoria the species is predominantly found on the coastal plains and low foothills of the hinterland where it has been recorded in a range of lentic and terrestrial habitats (Gillespie 1996). Breeding has been documented from dams in both forested and cleared areas, swamps in farmland, gravel pits, billabongs, marshes, coastal lagoon wetlands, wet swale herb lands and isolated stream-side pools (Gillespie 1996). These habitats are mostly permanent, but include some ephemeral waterbodies (Gillespie 1996). All habitats are characterized by stationary water (Gillespie 1996). Virtually all isolated waterbodies are free of native fish species and typically have dense emergent vegetation (Gillespie 1996). It can be found in a variety of terrestrial habitats including lowland forest, banksia woodland, wet heath land, riparian scrub complex, riparian shrubland, riparian forest, damp forest, shrubby dry forest and cleared pastoral lands (Gillespie 1996). It is seasonally active and has been observed from September to early May (Daly 1995). Males call between September and March. Spawn is laid amongst aquatic vegetation and has been observed in December, January and February (Daly 1995). Counts of eight egg masses ranged from 2,463–11,682 eggs (van de Mortel and Goldingay 1998). Eggs hatch within three days and metamorphosis can take from 2–11 months (Daly 1995); however, six weeks appears to be an average duration for the field (R. Goldingay pers. comm.).

This Australian species has been recorded along the southeast coast from East Gippsland in Victoria, north to Lismore in northeast New South Wales (Gillespie 1996, White and Pyke 1996). Most records are from elevations below 100 m asl. North of Sydney, there were a few high-elevation records of the species and almost all records were east of the Great Divide (the only discrepant records are from Armidale and Ebor) (White and Pyke 1996). On the Southern Tablelands, the species does not appear to occur above 800 m asl (Osborne, Littlejohn and Thomson 1996) and in Victoria the species does not appear to occur above about 670 m asl (Gillespie 1996). Populations occur on two offshore islands in New South Wales, Bowen Island in Jervis Bay (Osborne and McElhinney 1996) and Broughton Island north of Port Stephens (New South Wales NPWS Atlas 1998). It remains unknown whether or not these populations are relictual or the result of assisted translocation (Mahony 1999). It has been introduced to New Zealand and is widespread across northern North Island; pet traders have moved it between the North and South Islands. It is also introduced to New Caledonia and Vanuatu (Tyler 1979).

Conservation Measures In-Place
This species' range includes several protected areas. This species is currently listed as Vulnerable under the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) (Department of the Environment 2014) and was assessed as Vulnerable by Gillespie et al. (2020).

There is a cooperative program between Taronga Zoo and a range of NSW agencies and NGO’s, involving breeding and release at a number of sites close to Sydney. 

Conservation Needed
The Conservation Advice for this species provides details regarding conservation measures needed to conserve this species (Department of the Environment 2014) and includes some of the following suggestions.

Further protection of remaining suitable habitat through expansion of existing protected areas, or through cooperation with private land owners is recommended. This will also require raising awareness of the species within the community regards how to identify the species, and appropriate hygiene protocols to avoid introducing disease, and techniques for monitoring. Restoration of habitat, and strategies to provide disease-free and fish-free breeding habitat are needed. In particular, any hydrological changes need to be managed to avoid run-off, sedimentation, pollution, a reduction in water table levels or altered tide incursion. Invasive weeds need to be controlled but without any adverse impact on subpopulations due to the chemicals being used. Sites need to be managed to reduce the impacts of habitat destruction by cattle, feral pigs and feral horses by maintaining fencing and controlling numbers. 

Bushfires have previously been identified as a potential threat to this species, and the scale and intensity of the 2019-20 bushfires within the range of this species confirmed that this is an increasing threat. Bushfire events are an ongoing concern, as well as fire management strategies that are developed and implemented to avoid such catastrophic fire events. For this species, any managed fires will need to take in to consideration the known occurrences of this species to enable a suitable fire management strategy to be implemented that avoids the wetlands and other other large water bodies where this species is known to occur. 

Captive breeding programs and translocations should be continued with appropriate research and measures in place to ensure their success. 

Research Needed
Targeted surveys throughout the range of this species are needed to better define its distribution and abundance, as well as additional survey work in suitable and potential habitat to locate any additional subpopulations. A monitoring  program needs to be maintained to determine trends in population size and distribution, mortality and timing of life history stages, the extent of threats and their impacts, to monitor the progress of recovery, including the effectiveness of management actions and the need to adapt them if necessary (Department of the Environment 2014).

Optimal fire regimes to maintain this species' habitat need to be developed. In addition, research is needed to determine the impact the 2019–20 bushfires had on subpopulations of this species.