Australia has an enviable international reputation for producing clean and healthy food and is fortunate to be free of a lot of pests and diseases which have a major impact of agriculture in other countries.
Our freedom from many pests and diseases helps give us access to international markets, improve productivity and reduce our cost of production.
The advantages we enjoy must be protected. We have two lines of defence:
First, strong quarantine arrangements to reduce the risk of the incursion of an exotic animal disease or plant pest, plant, marine or insect pest or disease. This is the responsibility of the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service which is part of the Commonwealth Department of Agriculture and Water Resources.
Second, a national system in place to respond to incursions to control and eradicate. This is called a Biosecurity Emergency Response and is the responsibility of agriculture departments federally, and in each state/territory.
Exotic pests and diseases manage to enter Australia from time to time and it might surprise you to know that there are currently 20 responses in progress for pest and disease outbreaks in Australia.
Exotic pests and diseases manage to enter Australia from time to time and it might surprise you to know that there are currently 20 responses in progress for pest and disease outbreaks in Australia
- CHARLIE BELL
This includes insects, weeds, plant pests and two aquatic animal diseases in all states and territories except the ACT. (See www.outbreak.gov.au/current-responses-to-outbreaks)
When an exotic pest or disease is identified and confirmed arrangements are in place to ensure that there is a rapid and nationally co-ordinated response.
This involves the departments of agriculture or primary industries in the state or territory in which the outbreak occurs or, when there is an incursion in more than one jurisdiction, the federal Department of Agriculture and Water Resources takes the lead.
Decisions about how to respond to an incursion are made by the Chief Veterinary Officers, or Chief Plant Health Officers for the jurisdictions affected in, consultation with representative from the affected industries, CSIRO, Animal Health Australia and Plant Health Australia.
Once the decision is made to implement a Biosecurity Emergency Response there are plans in place which detail how to respond to a wide range of potential threats. These plans are called:
1. AUSVETPLAN – for emergency animal diseases
2. PLANTPLAN – for emergency plant pests
3. AQUAVETPLAN – for emergency aquatic pests and diseases
4. Emergency Marine Pest Plan – to respond to pest emergencies in Australia’s marine environment.
The potential cost of an exotic pest or disease incursion to industry and farming communities could be enormous – possibly into the 100’s of millions of dollars. However, the cost of the implementing a Biosecurity Emergency Response can also be a very high and arrangements are in place for this cost to potentially be shared by the commonwealth, states, territories and industry. Once a response is declared these arrangements are activated and determine the funding arrangements for the response.
A response can take many different forms depending on the pest or disease but will typically involve the following processes if the decision is made to eradicate:
- Identifying the source and location of the incursion
- Tracing any possible spread of the pest or disease
- Restricting movements to control the spread of the pest or disease
- Control activities on infected premises to destroy the pest or disease.
- Monitoring after control activities.
A response can be as short as a few weeks or could extend to many years – again depending on the nature of the incursion, the extent of spread and how difficult it is to control.
A crucial component of an effective response to an exotic pest or disease incursion is the highly trained and committed people who carry out the hard work.
There are a wide variety of roles within a response ranging from office administration through to on farm collection of samples for testing and the unpleasant task of sometimes destroying plants or livestock. A large response may involve hundreds of people.
Tocal College has been working for many years with Animal Health Australia and Plant Health Australia, in partnership with the Commonwealth and biosecurity agencies in all jurisdictions to provide a standardised national approach to training response staff.
Having a national team of well trained and experienced staff is one of the reasons Australia has been successful in remaining free of many serious pests and diseases which affect agriculture and the environment in other countries.
- Visit www.outbreak.gov.au/how-we-respond-to-outbreaks