Latest Articles

For previous years’ media releases, please visit the Media release archive.

Australia’s first National Biosecurity Training Hub

December 4, 2023

The Minister for Agricultural Industry Development and Fisheries and Minister for Rural Communities The Honourable Mark Furner has announced the launch of a groundbreaking National Biosecurity Training Hub, which will streamline access to essential online biosecurity training in Australia. More

The November issue of the Plant Surveillance Network Australasia-Pacific newsletter is out now.

November 28, 2023

The Plant Surveillance Network Australasia-Pacific (PSNAP) allows those working in all aspects of surveillance for plant pests to access and share information. The network was established to strengthen surveillance capacity and capability across the Australasia-Pacific region. More

2022/23 CitrusWatch Activity Report now available

November 21, 2023

CitrusWatch is pleased to release the 2022-2023 Activity Report which showcases the program’s achievements over the past year.

A collaboration between Plant Health Australia (PHA), Citrus Australia, the Northern Territory Department of Industry Tourism and Trade, and Cesar Australia, the program is a national citrus biosecurity and surveillance program that extends across commercial production zones, to highdensity, urban and peri-urban regions. More

Avocados Australia tests biosecurity protocols

November 21, 2023

In a move to continue biosecurity preparedness and response capabilities, the Board of Avocados Australia Limited (AAL) participated in Exercise Proteger on 25 October.

Facilitated by Plant Health Australia’s (PHA), the desktop exercise was designed to test decision-making processes and application of the Biosecurity Incident Standard Operating Procedure (BISOP) during a biosecurity emergency response. More

A record 450 forestry experts converged for ANZIF 2023

November 21, 2023

The Australia New Zealand Institute of Forestry conference was recently held in Tweed Heads, New South Wales, with a record of 475 delegates in attendance, representing a broad range of Australian and New Zealand stakeholders.

The theme of the conference, ‘Embracing Our Natural Capital: The Science, Technology and Art of Managing Forests For All Values’, facilitated the conversations and collaboration. More

Message from the CEO

November 21, 2023

Welcome to the November edition of Tendrils, our second last e-newsletter for 2023!

As we approach the end-of-year festivities, it is important to remember that biosecurity threats don’t take a break and we need to continue to be vigilant to safeguard Australia’s biosecurity. More

The Farm Biosecurity e-Newsletter is out now!

October 30, 2023

The Farm Biosecurity e-Newsletter is a bi-monthly publication that contains the latest pest and disease alerts, updates about new resources such as videos, factsheets, apps, and other relevant on-farm biosecurity developments.

The October issue has just been published, read it now via the link below. More

PHA Board Meeting 112 Communique

October 23, 2023

The Plant Health Australia (PHA) Board travelled to the Northern Territory (NT) and convened for PHA Board Meeting (BM) 112 from 19-20 September 2023.

Hosted in the offices of the Northern Australia Development Office (NADO) in Darwin, the agenda for BM112 included discussion of national and organisational strategy, PHA finance, budgeting and related policy, a review of corporate risk, policy and auditing, discussion of PHA membership applications, and preparation for the PHA Annual General Meeting and Plant Industry Forum. More

The October issue of the National Plant Biosecurity Diagnostic Network’s e-newsletter is out now.

October 23, 2023

The National Plant Biosecurity Diagnostic Network (NPBDN) helps Australian plant diagnosticians succeed together by working collaboratively to navigate biosecurity challenges.

The October issue of their bi-monthly newsletter has just been published, read it now via the link below. More

PHA has four new NBRT cadets

October 23, 2023

Plant Health Australia’s (PHA) Luke McKee, Mandy Jarvis, Emily Sears, and Niki Sheperd recently attended the latest National Biosecurity Response Team (NBRT) Cadet training program, held 12 – 13 October in Canberra.

Animal Health Australia (AHA) partnered with the ACT government to present the training program to 26 nominated individuals from across the biosecurity spectrum in the ACT, including PHA, the Department of Environment Planning and Sustainable Development Directorate (EPPSD), Transport Canberra and City Services (TCCS), Icon Water, and Suburban Land Agency. More