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As the trusted coordinator of the Australian plant biosecurity system, Plant Health Australia (PHA) brings expertise, knowledge and stakeholders together to generate solutions that improve biosecurity outcomes to ensure that the system is future-oriented and solutions-focused. More

The Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Murray Watt, officially launched the National Forest Pest Surveillance Collaboration Agreement last week.

The Collaboration Agreement outlines a partnership between the Australian Forest Products Association, PHA, DAFF, state and territory primary industry agencies, the Invasive Species Council, NRM Regions Australia and Forest and Wood Products Australia. More

After significant review and consultation with plant industries, the new Industry Liaison Officer (ILO) training program will be launched in early 2023.

ILOs work within control centres during a plant biosecurity response, providing industry insights, knowledge, and expertise to on-ground response activities. More

Episode 13 of the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry’s (DAFF) Webinar Series took place on Wednesday 23 November and featured Dr Jenny Shanks, PHA’s Manager for Bee Biosecurity.

This episode of the Australian Biosecurity Webinar Series deep-dived into the world of bee pests and diseases by examining why bee biosecurity is important and what is being done to protect them from exotic pests and diseases. More

The Australian Honey Bee Industry Council (AHBIC) and PHA, with assistance from Australia’s Bee Biosecurity Officers and original funding from AgriFutures Australia, have developed the Biosecurity for Beekeepers course.

The course is designed for people who have a basic understanding of beekeeping practices and who would like to learn more about protecting their bees from pests and diseases. More

A collaboration between PHA, Citrus Australia, the Northern Territory Department of Industry Tourism and Trade, and Cesar Australia, CitrusWatch extends its reach from commercial production zones, to high-density, high-risk, high-traffic urban and peri-urban regions. More

The hybrid 22nd Annual General Meeting and Member meetings were held in Canberra 29-30 November, 2022.

A copy of our Chair Steve McCutcheon’s address and the recording providing an update on the delivery of actions and key performance indicators (as detailed in the 2022-23 Annual Operational Plan (AOP)) is now available on our website. More

The National Plant Biosecurity Diagnostic Network (NPBDN) hosted a webinar covering the development of National Diagnostic Protocols (NDPs) on Wednesday 23 November 2022.

The webinar explained how NDPs are developed and how they are used to improve Australia’s ability to identify plant biosecurity threats. More

The first set of annual Action Plans have been released for the National Plant Biosecurity Strategy and its sub-strategies on preparedness, surveillance and diagnostics.

The 2022-23 action plans provide information on key activities that contribute to the delivery of strategic actions and were developed in collaboration with the National Plant Biosecurity Strategy Governance Group. More

It has been a mammoth year in Australian agriculture. Despite the impacts of devastating floods in the eastern states, Australian agriculture is still on track for setting new export commodity benchmarks and high yields for winter crops. According to the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES) December quarter overview, the gross agricultural production is forecasted to be $85 billion and the value of exports a little over $72 billion in 2022-23; just shy of the record set the previous year. More