Upcoming simulation: Exercise Border Bridge
Over the last year, PHA has been helping to plan a large simulation exercise to be run by NSW Department of Primary Industries, Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, and the National Biosecurity Response Team Advisory Group.
Exercise Border Bridge is an exercise program that will look at how NSW and Queensland respond to a biosecurity incident occurring across both jurisdictions. The scenario will be based on two pest and disease incursions – one that affects livestock and the other a threat to plant production industries.
The main exercise to be held 5-9 March 2018 will involve running a Joint Local Control Centre in Toowoomba, and State Coordination Centres in Orange, NSW, and Brisbane, Queensland. Members of the National Biosecurity Response Team will be deployed into the three centres to support NSW and Queensland staff.
The focus of the exercise will be the use of legislation, IT systems and existing arrangements to respond to the biosecurity incident. Both NSW and Queensland have recently introduced new biosecurity legislation, so the exercise provides an opportunity to assess how it will be implemented in a cross-border scenario.
Drs Stephen Dibley and Felicity Andriunas from PHA will help to deliver the exercise as members of Exercise Control and the evaluation team.