The Morrison government's own threatened species experts say Australia is failing in its plan to save wildlife from extinction and the crisis is damaging the nation’s reputation overseas.

It comes as environment officials pull plans for an international unveiling of the government’s widely panned threatened species strategy, after critics derided it as a "global embarrassment" which "reads like a Year 10 school assignment".

Australia has the world’s worst record of mammal extinction – about one in 10 have disappeared since European settlement. Almost 500 animals and 1300 plants are officially deemed threatened.

The federal government's own experts say Australia is failing in efforts to save threatened species, such as the orange-bellied parrot, pictured. Credit:Par Avion

A Senate inquiry is examining the faunal extinction crisis. The Threatened Species Scientific Committee, made up of eminent scientists who advise Environment Minister Melissa Price, says Australia has strong environment laws, is signatory to international conservation treaties and leads the world in conservation science.