Fine sediment derived from channel erosion has been identified as having a major environmental and economic impact to south east Queensland. This includes reduced water storage and increased treatment costs, degradation of the Ramsar listed Moreton Bay and impacts on shipping operations in the Port of Brisbane. A rapid desktop method to assess channel erosion risk has been developed and applied to streams across south east Queensland. The method assesses both the likelihood of channel erosion and the fine sediment availability at the reach scale. The approach can assist managers identify stream reaches with high fine sediment generation potential to help target additional investigations to inform planning.