PHA and Agriculture Victoria delivered training on 4 October, as part of the Industry Liaison (IL) training program. Due to the uncertainty of COVID-19 restrictions, the workshop was delivered virtually over two sessions.

The workshop was attended by government and industry bodies including AUSVEG, Australian Sweet Potato Growers, Australian Table Grapes Association, Citrus Australia, Bunnings and representatives from honey bees, almonds and forestry. Guest facilitator Trevor Ranford, an experienced IL representative presented a session on his experiences as an IL representative during a response – further highlighting the important role industry has in a response.

Training topics included:

• an overview of the Emergency Plant Pest Response Deed (EPPRD)
• emergency management principles
• the IL role and its importance in an emergency plant pest incident response
• the incident response structures used in Victoria
• how incident managers manage plant response operations
• how Agriculture Victoria engages with industry in a response
• the importance of effective communications in a response.

Feedback from industry representatives was very positive with one attendee saying: “Overall, a really interesting workshop and was really glad I got a chance to participate in this training!”

Future workshops will be delivered in jurisdictions with the next workshop planned for Queensland in February 2022.