Bather protection programs are a topic of interest in the media, government, and coastal communities. Traditional methods of mitigating shark-human interactions (e.g. shark nets/drumlines) are not selective to the intended target species and often have significant bycatch of other marine wildlife. Non-lethal mitigation methods, such as Shark-Management-Alert-in-Real-time (SMART) drumlines are providing an alternative tool with reportedly fewer impacts on target and non-target species. Many shark species are now able to be tagged and released alive. The grey nurse shark (Carcharias taurus) is a critically endangered species that is susceptible as bycatch in bather protection programs. This study aims to quantify the short-term effects of SMART drumlines on post-release survival and movement behaviour of east Australian C. taurus. We fitted 28 individuals caught on SMART drumlines with pop-up satellite archival transmitting tags and tracked their movement for up to 150 days post-release along the east coast of Australia. Data obtained provides insight into the impacts of capture stress on this threatened species, and factors explaining interactions of C. taurus with SMART drumlines. Our findings will assist in improving management and conservation strategies for threatened megafauna, while providing insight to create more holistic bather protection programs that have minimal impacts on animals.