An ever-changing risk landscape requires Plant Health Australia (PHA) to explore new ways to achieve and operate with a high level of vigilance and future focus. During the first six months of the new financial year our full portfolio of work aligned to our five-year strategic plan, that supports and strengthens Australia’s biosecurity system, continues.

Producers play a key role in protecting Australia’s plant and livestock industries from pests and diseases, and PHA remains committed to helping producers reduce their on-farm biosecurity risks. The Farm Biosecurity Program, a collaboration between PHA and Animal Health Australia (AHA), recently partnered with AgForce Queensland and Biosecurity Queensland to host the On-Farm Biosecurity Summit in Brisbane. Held last week, the summit was attended by more than 60 industry and peak body representatives who came together to share learnings and knowledge to develop and improve current and future on-farm biosecurity practices. These outcomes enable the Farm Biosecurity Program to continue to develop fresh approaches and ensure on-farm biosecurity practices are top-of-mind.

This month we reflect on the first 12 months of the National Varroa mite (Varroa destructor) Response Plan. During this time, over 130,000 bee hives have been tested, over 10,000 calls for assistance have been received, and almost 100 community meetings have been hosted and attended. The National Management Group recently endorsed a revised response plan to complete eradication and achieve proof of freedom to protect the interests of the honey bee and pollination industries.

On 1 July the new biosecurity regulatory fees and charges came into effect. These fees are expected to raise an additional $35 million over the next 12 months to recover costs associated with overseas imports and are aimed at ensuring risk creators pay their share of system costs – consistent with the 2017 Intergovernmental Agreement on Biosecurity Review.

Looking ahead, the next two weeks are jam-packed with activities. This week I am attending an international workshop in Brisbane on pest risk mitigation of sea containers and their cargoes and the facilitation of international trade. This will be followed by the much-anticipated National Fruit Fly Symposium in Adelaide where delegates will discuss and build a collective view of Australia’s fruit fly opportunities and challenges.

Late last month, PHA’s Executive Management Team (EMT) held a day long retreat reviewing delivery of our strategic plan as a pre-curser to the PHA Board Strategy Workshop being held later this month. The EMT strategy session focused on PHA’s member value proposition, business model and strategic reporting metrics. The outcomes will form the basis of a two-day facilitated workshop of PHA’s Board that will include reflections of the current operating environment and strategies for the company to continue to meet member expectations. The meeting will include the annual joint meeting of the AHA and PHA Boards who will discuss the biosecurity protection levy, custodianship of the cost shared Deed agreements, the Farm Biosecurity Program, and modernising future biosecurity levies.

Applications are currently open through Rimfire Recruitment for four Non-Executive Directors to join the PHA Board. We are seeking applicants with a range of skills and experience in plant health and strategic leadership, and a passion for biosecurity and the plant sector. Applications close 31 July, and will be assessed and recommended to the Board Selection Committee with an anticipated completion of the process by September 2023.

Congratulations to Suzanne McLoughlin who has been appointed as Acting CEO of Vinehealth Australia for the next 12 months. PHA is committed to supporting your focus on helping industry to navigate the biosecurity realm in order to protect South Australian vines from pest and disease threats.

I look forward to another productive month working with you all on continuing to build biosecurity preparedness, capacity and resilience across our industries, communities and environment.

Plant Health Australia’s (PHA) Annual Operational Plan was published in June 2023, however at the time of publishing, statistics used to calculate Member subscriptions for 2023-24 were not available.

Individual subscription levels vary between years due to shifts in Local Value of Production (LVP) for plant industries which, in turn, affects the relative proportion of individual member subscriptions calculated in accordance with the three-year rolling average formula set out in the PHA Constitution.

LVP is calculated from figures published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES) or, if neither of these two options are available, a source deemed appropriate by PHA’s directors.

At the time of publishing, a reduced set of LVP statistics for the 2021-22 year from the ABS were available. PHA management have since worked with Members to estimate relevant LVP levels for those industries where no data was available.

Subscriptions for 2023-24 are outlined in the Addendum to the Annual Operational Plan, available to download via the link below.

Annual Operational Plan 2023-24 Addendum

The National Bee Pest Surveillance Program (NBPSP) is a risk-based program undertaking surveillance at ports that have been evaluated as the highest risk of entry and establishment of European or Asian honey bees and the exotic bee mites they carry.

This risk-based approach is designed to provide early detection through activities occurring at high-risk locations and at a frequency that will detect new pests. This provides the best chance of eradication or containment of pests before they have a chance to spread widely in bee populations and impact pollination services.

The NBPSP involves a range of equipment, tools, activities, and diagnostic techniques to target and provide early detection of the nine high priority exotic bee pests, including Varroa mite, Tropilaelaps mite and Tracheal mite.

Surveillance infographics

In 2022 the NBPSP performed surveillance activities at 22 locations throughout Australia. A total of 3,287 surveillance activities targeting exotic bee pests and exotic pest bees were conducted.

Download the Infographic

Program funding

The National Bee Pest Surveillance Program (NBPSP) is funded by Hort Innovation using research and development levies of 14 horticultural industries, with significant contributions from states and territories and co-investment from Australian honey bee industry Levies, Grain Producers Australia and the Australian Government.

The NBPSP is coordinated by Plant Health Australia and delivered by all state and the Northern Territory governments.

We kicked-off the last month of the financial year with a full itinerary of meetings and events that provided many opportunities for face-to-face discussions and networking. In the first week of June, Board Meeting 111 (BM111) was held in Sydney and included discussion on strategic issues, a review of financial reports, risk management plans and policies as well as management and compliance activities of the Emergency Plant Pest Response Deed (EPPRD). Further details of the meeting discussions are available in the BM111 communique.

BM111 was followed by two days of Plant Health Australia (PHA) Member meetings including the 22nd General Meeting (GM), 12th PHA Members Forum, the 35th Plant Industry Forum, the 37th EPPRD Signatories Meeting and 4th Annual Debriefing Forum. Following the consultation period, PHA’s 2023-24 Annual Operational Plan (AOP) outlining our priorities, outcomes and actions for the next 12 months, was presented and supported by all Members at the GM. Visit our website to view the AOP in detail.

Strengthening relationships with stakeholders continued the week after our meetings with Hort Connections, Australia’s premiere horticulture conference and trade show held at the Adelaide Convention Centre. The event was very well attended; hosting up to 3,000 delegates and over 200 local and global supply chain partners. I was fortunate to attend along with PHA team members Lucy Tran-Nguyen, Chris O’Connor and Stuart Burgess who provided an update on the National Fruit Fly Council in the “Demystifying Market Access Research” session. This annual event always provides the opportunity to grow our connections and learn about the latest industry research and innovations in Australia and New Zealand. With so many of our Member organisations attending, it gives PHA the opportunity to build a stronger understanding of priorities and exchange ideas on how we can partner to strengthen plant biosecurity across industries, governments and the supply chain.

In June 2022, Varroa destructor was detected in New South Wales, and next month marks the first anniversary of endorsement of the Response Plan to eradicate the pest. One of the largest plant pest eradications ever to be mounted, there are 25 Affected Parties (including all governments and 16 industries) who regularly assess response data and advise on eradication and cost feasibility. This daily response effort consists of hundreds of response staff working tirelessly to ensure eradication remains achievable. The National Management Group is scheduled to meet soon to agree on the next phase of the Response Plan and the supporting budget to achieve eradication.

Communications is a key focus for PHA and we regularly utilise a multi-channel approach to ensure we reach a broad range of stakeholders and demographics. This is why we officially joined one of the most successful social media platforms in the world by launching our Instagram page earlier this month. If you haven’t already, follow us @planthealthaust.

Another way we have been actively building awareness of plant biosecurity and developing a talent pipeline with the next generation, is through our Science internship program with the Australian National University. The internship provides students with the opportunity to gain industry experience and apply their technical skills and science training in a professional context. This year, we had the pleasure of hosting three interns with the Partnerships, Diagnostics and Surveillance and Marketing and Communications areas. It was a fantastic experience for all of us and you can learn more about their learnings and project work here.

As we commence the next financial year with a strong operational plan to guide and align our activities with our strategy, we continue to operate in a dynamic environment that includes the proposed biosecurity protection levy and reform of existing levy legislation, whilst also delivering current priorities and planning for future scenarios. We will continue to focus on strengthening Australia’s plant industries’ including their preparations and response to pest and disease introduction in the context of a deteriorating global economic environment, that will drive down resource availability and create long term impacts on prosperity.

The Plant Health Australia (PHA) Board recently travelled to Sydney for Board Meeting 111 (BM 111) on 30 May 2023.  The meeting was held in conjunction with the 35^th Plant Industry Forum, the 12^th Plant Health Australia Member Forum, the 22^nd General Meeting and the 37^th Emergency Plant Pest Response Deed (EPPRD) Signatories meeting, held 31 May and 1 June at Rydges Sydney Central hotel.

The BM 111 agenda included discussion of strategic issues, a review of financial reports, risk management plans and policy, as well as management and compliance activities of the EPPRD.

The Board discussed several topics and issues relevant to implementation of company strategy, operations and PHA Members including:

• Reviewing and assessing the company’s time spent on increasingly complex and concurrent plant pest incursion responses. Although no specific requirement exists in the EPPRD for PHA to have defined normal commitments, they were established by the Board in 2015/16 (and agreed by the signatories), to provide transparency in what may be considered additional to PHA’s ordinary operating costs
• The national deployment of PHA’s digital systems and associated project progression of AUSPestCheck® as a cross-sectoral application with delivery of new user enhancements and noting the governance arrangements for the cost shared diagnostic applications, the Australian Plant Pest Database (APPD) and Pest and Disease Image Library (PaDIL).
• Receiving a briefing on the increased cybersecurity protections that PHA have incorporated into their corporate ICT infrastructure
• Planning the Board’s Strategic Planning workshop in July which will focus on sustainable business modelling in concert with effective business strategy metrics and horizon scanning to understand the changing compliance and funding landscape. It includes a joint meeting of the PHA and Animal Health Australia Boards.

The Board also provided endorsement of the 2023-24 Annual Operational Plan (including the operating budget) which was subsequently presented to and approved by members at the 22^nd General Meeting.

Board meeting 112 will be held in Darwin in September and will include the opportunity to spend time with members and stakeholders to experience their operating environment and hear their views on plant biosecurity.

Keeping Australia’s plant industries free of pests and diseases is a continuous process. Pre-border and at the Australian border, the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry minimises the likelihood of pests and diseases entering the country.

Post-border, the management of plant biosecurity is a partnership between federal and state governments, plant industries and producers. The following short video shows how these parties interact. Plant Health Australia focuses its efforts post-border, increasing collaboration between the parties to aid in the effectiveness of all activities.

Watch the video

Plant Health Australia (PHA) recently had the pleasure of hosting three students from the Australian National University (ANU) for a semester-long Science Internship Program.

The Science Internship Program offered students an opportunity to apply their technical skills and science training, while experiencing a career in a professional science context.

“The program was targeted towards university students who are graduating with a science-related degree and will be joining the workforce soon,” said Dr Lucy Tran-Nguyen, PHA General Manger, Partnerships and Innovation.

The students were assigned to a range of projects within PHA that offered hands-on work experience based on each individual’s educational background and professional objectives.

The interns were assigned to work on the National Plant Biosecurity Strategy, supporting the National Plant Biosecurity Diagnostic Network (NPBDN) and Plant Surveillance Network Australasia-Pacific (PSNAP), and assisting the marketing and communications team to conduct research for the Farm Biosecurity Program.

The students were assessed at the end of their internship, each delivering a project proposal outlining the scope of the project to be undertaken alongside a written report that outlined the project scope, outcomes and recommendations. Each student delivered an oral presentation to the PHA Executive Management Team and ANU academics.

Here’s what the interns had to say about their time at PHA.

Adam Correa

Adam worked on the National Plant Biosecurity Strategy’s 2022-23 Implementation Report.

“I drafted updates against activities and refined working documents to aid future reporting efforts. This also involved designing, proposing, and organising the elements of the project.” Adam explained.

“The most rewarding aspect for the internship was the experience of managing the direction of the project,” Adam said. “Though it was under supervision, I still had the freedom to set my own goals, explore different solutions, and organise myself in a professional environment.”

Adam really enjoyed the experience of interning at PHA, and feels like he left with more skills and experience under his belt.

“I got more out of it than I was expecting when enrolling in the university course and I would recommend it to other students.”

Magdalen Plater

Magdalen (Magda) supported the surveillance and diagnostics team to develop the NPBDN and PSNAP network expert registers. The expert registers will be used to easily source information on biosecurity expertise in Australian and around the world. She also provided administrative support for the Annual Diagnostics and Surveillance Workshop (ADSW).

“I learnt valuable new project management skills,” Magda said. “This included producing a project proposal, developing a GANTT chart and updating my supervisors on the project’s progress and barriers. I also gained a greater appreciation of how to work in an office-based environment.”

According to Magda the highlight of the internship was being able to attend the Annual Diagnostics and Surveillance Workshop (ADSW) as it increased her understanding of the extensive work that PHA does and the size of their membership networks.

“By attending ADSW I was able to gain some industry experience that I would not have been exposed to by remaining in the office and learn more about the fields of surveillance and diagnostics.”

Reese Chen

Reese worked in the marketing and communications section, conducting extensive research and building a toolkit for the Farm Biosecurity Program based on the latest report of national data. Reese was also given the opportunity to join daily marketing and communications team meetings.

“I learnt more about the intricacies of what working in marketing and communications is really like. Seeing the real-world applications of marketing strategies at play was undoubtedly one of the most valuable experiences I have had at PHA,” Reese said.

“What I most appreciated were the many moments where my supervisor and co-workers would stop the conversation and take the time to explain the reasons why and how they were doing certain things. There were countless patient explanations, funny off-topic conversations, and genuine pieces of advice which I appreciated.”

The Program offered insight into the day-to-day operations of a not-for-profit organisation in the science industry, providing the students with a better understanding of the corporate workplace and biosecurity in general. We would like to thank Adam, Magda and Reese for the excellent work they have done, and we will follow their future career paths with interest.

Part of Plant Health Australia’s deliverables under the 2022-27 Strategic Plan is to develop cohesive networks amongst members, the supply chain and the science and technology community. Under Strategic Priority 2, we aim to grow an online community by increasing the reach and frequency of social media posts covering company news, aspects of the biosecurity system and industry spotlights.

Over the course of 2022, PHA posted nearly 2,500 social media posts with over 1million impressions, gaining more than 2,500 new followers across LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. To further grow our online community, PHA is excited to announce the launch of our brand new Instagram page.

Instagram is a rapidly evolving and growing platform with more than two billion active users and over 200 million business pages. By producing engaging and informative content on this platform, PHA hopes to build plant biosecurity awareness amongst a new, younger and diverse audience.

Follow us on Instagram

On 20 May 2023 Plant Health Australia (PHA) celebrated World Bee Day to spread awareness of the significance of bees and other pollinators for food security.

Australia’s honey bees are some of the healthiest in the world. The health of the beekeeping industry is key and has flow-on effects to pollination reliant industries and the wider community that benefit from healthy hives, their products, and the services they provide.

Bees are largely important for the pollination services they provide. Some major food crops rely on pollination from bees (and other insects), with one-third of Australia’s total food production benefitting from bee pollination.

European honey bees are the most wide-spread species currently used for large-scale commercial crop pollination in Australia. Australian native bees have evolved with Australian wildflowers and are great pollinators supporting our native bushlands (Australian Native Bees – The Wheen Bee Foundation).

With over 47,900 registered honey beekeepers who own approximately 855,330 hives, Australia’s biosecurity system plays a crucial role in protecting the health of our honey bees. There are several biosecurity initiatives undertaken pre-border, at the border and post border with industry and government that aim to keep Australia’s honey bee population as healthy as possible.

The National Bee Pest Surveillance Program is an early warning system to detect new incursions of exotic bee pests and pest bees. The program uses a range of surveillance methods conducted at high-risk seaports throughout Australia, considered the most likely entry points for these pests. The program is coordinated by PHA and primarily funded by 14 pollinator-reliant industries through Hort Innovation, with co-investment from the Australian Honey Bee Industry Council (AHBIC) and Grain Producers Australia (GPA) and in-kind support from state and territory agencies.

The National Bee Biosecurity Program (NBBP) supports post-border awareness and preparedness for exotic pest threats to the honey bee industry The NBBP is coordinated by PHA and employs six Bee Biosecurity Officers to help beekeepers meet their biosecurity obligations and ensure the ongoing accessibly of healthy hives for pollination reliant industries. Underpinning the NBBP is the Australian Honey Bee Industry Biosecurity Code of Practice, which provides a framework for Australian beekeepers to implement best-practice biosecurity measures in their hives and apiaries.

In April this year, beekeepers all over Australia were called to action to meet at least one of their inspection requirements by participating in the first Bee Pest Blitz. As part of the annual campaign, all beekeepers were called on to inspect their hives and perform alcohol washes. Beekeepers can access relevant information to support hive inspection practices by heading to the website Bee Pest Blitz – Plant Health Australia.

Due to the considerable growth in the native bee industry over the past few years, several factsheets focused on pest and diseases of native bees and biosecurity awareness are also available on the PHA website: Australian Native bees – Plant Health Australia.

Whether you are a commercial or recreational beekeeper or are passionate about protecting the environment to support our native bees, everyone can play role in improving biosecurity measures.

You can contribute to bee biosecurity by reporting something that looks unusual in your honey bee hives or reporting unusual looking bees in the environment using the Exotic Plant Pest Hotline 1800 084 881.

Bee Pest Blitz is funded as part of the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry’s Plant Biosecurity Response Reform (PBRR) program, led by Plant Health Australia, supported by Australian Honey Bee Industry Council (AHBIC) and all state and territory government agencies.

The NBBP is a partnership between industry and government and is funded by AHBIC through industry biosecurity levies. The NBPSP is a partnership between industry and government and is funded by Horticulture Innovation Australia (Hort Innovation), AHBIC and Grain Producers Australia (GPA).