Italian ornithologist Tommaso Salvadori defined the new genus "Neophema" in 1891, placing the turquoise parrot within it and giving it its current scientific name. There is little geographical variation, with some minor local differences in the amount of orange on the belly. In 1915, Gregory Mathews described a subspecies "dombrainii" from Victoria on the basis of more prominent red on the scapulars; however, this distinction was not confirmed on review with New South Wales specimens, and hence no subspecies are recognised. One of six species of grass parrot in the genus "Neophema", it is most closely related to the scarlet-chested parrot. The two are an allopatric species pair, and are the only two species in the genus to exhibit marked sexual dimorphism—where the male and female are different in appearance.