AUSPestCheck® helped provide evidence supporting Australia’s national freedom claims for Xylella, one of Australia’s highest-priority exotic plant pests.

By aggregating government and industry surveillance data collected through Budstick Blitz activities, AUSPestCheck® provided core evidence used by the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) to support Australia’s pest freedom status. This evidence helps maintain national market access arrangements with the European Union for Australian industries vulnerable to Xylella.

Operated and maintained by Plant Health Australia (PHA), AUSPestCheck® is a future-ready system that unlocks the full power of surveillance data.

The system securely brings together surveillance information from government and industry participants, creating a national picture of surveillance activity while maintaining appropriate data governance and access controls.

AUSPestCheck® currently contains more than 12 million surveillance records and supports surveillance planning, pest freedom claims, market access activities, preparedness and biosecurity decision-making.

AUSPestCheck® supports a range of biosecurity outcomes, including:

• bringing surveillance information together to support national planning, prioritisation and efficient use of surveillance resources
• identifying and closing surveillance gaps to detect pests where they are most likely to arrive through stronger industry-government coordination
• delivering coordinated, targeted surveillance that detects incursions early, maximising prospects for eradication
• developing robust surveillance data to keep incident responses targeted while maintaining market access opportunities
• supporting industry recovery during transition to management processes
• providing robust evidence of pest absence critical for domestic and international market access protections
• informing biosecurity research, policy development and operational planning

To learn more about how AUSPestCheck®, visit https://www.planthealthaustralia.com.au/our-work.