Australia’s South East Fishery (SEF) is a complex multi-species, multi-gear fishery which operates over a large area from shallow coastal waters to depths of over 1000 m. As such, it consists of various sub-fisheries whose distinct catch composition and bycatch issues are defined by the gear, areas, depths and seasons fished. Trawling is the main method used in the fishery and observer programs have provided extensive data on the species and size composition of both the retained and discarded trawl catch. Bycatch of birds, turtles and dolphins was virtually non-existent but seals were caught in a low percentage of shots. Benthos also accounts for a relatively small proportion of the catch. The discarding of fish by trawlers was the biggest bycatch issue in the SEF although discarding levels and the composition of the discarded catch vary considerably throughout the fishery. The lowest levels of discarding were in the target fisheries for spawning orange roughy and blue grenadier, where less than 10–30%(by weight) of the total catch was discarded. In the mixed species fisheries in western Bass Strait and off the east coast of New South Wales, up to 50% of the catch may be discarded. Quota species were often discarded. These commonly include small blue grenadier, spotted warehou and blue warehou in the west, whilst small redfish, ocean perch, flathead mirror dory and recently blue grenadier, were major discards in the east. Some commercial non-quota species were widely discarded including barracouta, southern frostfish and jack mackerel. Considerable discarding of small non-commercial species including New Zealand dories, whiptails and cucumber fish were highlighted. Due to the numerous and complex reasons behind discarding of fish by trawlers in the SEF, a variety of methods to minimise discarding may be considered including changes to management, marketing and gear selectivity. However, if any are to be successful, they will require close cooperation between Industry, managers, researchers and other interest groups.