 As current fishing levels are not thought to threaten this shark's population, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has assessed it as Least Concern.The Australian blacktip shark was described by Australian ichthyologist Gilbert Percy Whitley in a 1950 issue of the scientific journal "Western Australian Naturalist".He named it "Galeolamna pleurotaenia tilstoni" in honor of Richard Tilston, assistant surgeon at Port Essington, Northern Territory.