We isolated 137 unique Australian brush-turkey (Alectura lathami) microsatellite sequences. Twenty-five loci when characterised in 24 individuals displayed 2–17 alleles per locus. Four loci were found to be Z-linked based on a complete lack of heterozygotes in females and sequence similarity to the chicken Z chromosome. Due to the small genetic distance among species within this family, a proportion of these loci are expected to be of utility for genetic studies of other megapodes, many of which are endangered.