Contingency planning: A new streamlined model

  • Contingency planning: A new streamlined model image

There are over 70 contingency plans on the PHA website’s Pest Information Document Database, which provide technical and scientific advice to support decision making and response activities following the detection of a plant pest. These documents are especially valuable in the early stages of a response, where information is required rapidly.

The Streamlining Plant Pest Contingency Plans Project, delivered by Agriculture Victoria using funding from the Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment (DAWE), aims to develop a nationally agreed, modular structure for these documents that improves their functionality.

Agriculture Victoria facilitated a series of workshops and meetings with all state and territory governments, DAWE, PHA and some industry representatives to ensure the project outputs align to jurisdictional and operational needs. Through this engagement, the new modular framework has been developed and approved by the Plant Health Committee. The project team has already worked with several people who have used the new format to develop contingency plans and invites others who wish to use the template to contact Paula Giraldo to discuss.

Agriculture Victoria and PHA are also developing a Contingency Plans Portal, a bespoke system that allows for the modular development, management and updating of the information in each plan.

Tendrils readers will be advised when the portal is complete and available for use.