Aboriginals have found T. rugosa to be a good source of food and some southern tribes of Australia used them medicinally. They are believed to kill and eat snakes, which has been witnessed but is not typical behavior(Serventry, 1977). The shingle back skink also plays a small part in the world pet trade. Exportation of this species from Australia is currently prohibited but there are some pairs in the trade that have been producing captive young for private collections. These captives command a high price and are fairly rare to come across.