Biosecurity works quietly in the background, around the clock, protecting many things we all value. It helps safeguard the food we eat, the natural places we cherish, and the health of our plants, animals and communities.
National Biosecurity Week is our opportunity each year to draw back the curtain. We invite you to take a closer look at biosecurity in Australia.
A strong, modern biosecurity system is crucial for our nation’s success.
Our farms, fisheries and produce around $100 billion in agricultural products each year and approximately $70 billion in premium products for export.
Biosecurity helps to:
Strong animal biosecurity also helps protect Australia from harmful pests and diseases, and maintains our strong animal, plant and human health reputation.
Protecting animal health helps support healthier communities and ecosystems.
Pests and diseases can cause serious damage to our plants, animals and natural environment.
Australia is free from many of the world’s worst pest and diseases. If these exotic pests and diseases were to enter our country, they would destroy our crops and devastate our livestock and poultry.
A strong biosecurity system helps prevent these pests and diseases from entering and establishing in Australia.
Working pre-border, at the border and beyond the border, Australia’s biosecurity system provides multiple layers of protection and helps us respond quickly if risks are detected.
This is the accessible text transcript of a three-person panel of experts discussing National Biosecurity Week and the importance of biosecurity, created for an external public audience.
[Video begins]
[Video description: text on screen with blurred photograph of the three panel members in the background. Text reads ‘National Biosecurity Week – let’s talk about why it matters’.]
00:00:04 Dr Beth Cookson [Video description: super title reads Dr Beth Cookson, Australian Chief Veterinary Officer]
It's about protecting our native wildlife, our biodiversity, it's about public health, it's about our food safety systems and it's about the health and wellbeing of our communities.
00:00:14 Dr Rosa Crnov [Video description: super title reads Dr Rosa Crnov, Australian Chief Plant Protection Officer]
Biosecurity for me is about protecting our way of life.
00:00:18 Dr Rosa Crnov
We fundamentally want to keep out those
00:00:22 Dr Rosa Crnov
pests and diseases that could impact our way of life.
00:00:26 Dr Rosa Crnov
It's about limiting impacts also to people and jobs.
00:00:30 Dr Susie Collins [Video description: super title reads Dr Susie Collins, Acting Australian Chief Environmental Biosecurity Officer]
The protection of Australia and our assets and our people and our environment and our culture is critical.
00:00:36 Dr Susie Collins
To me it's also about connections.
00:00:40 Dr Susie Collins
It's about our connection not only within Australia to all of the people who are involved in the system but also internationally.
00:00:49 Dr Susie Collins
You know we're a trading nation, we want to travel but we want to
00:00:52 Dr Susie Collins
protect what's here in Australia.
00:00:53 Dr Susie Collins
So that connection both locally, regionally, nationally and also out globally, I think is a critical part of our system and what biosecurity is all about and what biosecurity needs to continue to focus on.
00:01:09 Dr Beth Cookson
I think for me in my role strengthening Australia's biosecurity system, it's really that opportunity to provide national leadership, technical coordination and a
00:01:20 Dr Beth Cookson
a trusted voice in the community.
00:01:23 Dr Rosa Crnov
And while each of us represents our own particular sector, we don't work in isolation.
00:01:28 Dr Rosa Crnov
Our work crosses.
00:01:30 Dr Rosa Crnov
across that whole biosecurity spectrum, preventing, preparing all the way to response.
00:01:36 Dr Rosa Crnov
And we can only do that successfully by working together and not obviously just the three of us, but nationally with our stakeholders, whether they're obviously the industries, First Nations people, householders, everybody has a buy-in and a commitment to biosecurity.
00:01:57 Dr Rosa Crnov
We're forever responding across the country to suspect plants and pest diseases.
00:02:03 Dr Rosa Crnov
But last year we had a response nationally to Capra beetle in imported nappies.
00:02:11 Dr Rosa Crnov
And we got on top of it as a country really quickly because a householder
00:02:16 Dr Rosa Crnov
who was changing his child's nappy, noticed larvae, these little insects in his child's nappy.
00:02:26 Dr Rosa Crnov
So he reported that to us as the Commonwealth Department at our 1800 number and we got into action really quickly and it was a fantastic outcome for the country.
00:02:39 Dr Susie Collins
Have a look around you.
00:02:41 Dr Susie Collins
Go outside, look at the trees, look at your dogs, look at the birds in the sky, keep your eyes out, report things if they look different because what you're protecting is those things around you.
00:02:52 Dr Susie Collins
It's our natural environment.
00:02:54 Dr Susie Collins
It's our pets and our wildlife, it's our food supply and our industries and our communities.
00:03:00 Dr Rosa Crnov
And so I'd encourage anyone who sees anything unusual, report it and we'll follow up and investigate because you could be providing information about an early detection of an unwanted pest and the sooner we know about that, the more likely we are to be able to manage and potentially eradicate.
00:03:19 Dr Beth Cookson
So let's celebrate our partnerships across biosecurity.
00:03:22 Dr Beth Cookson
Let's ensure that they remain
00:03:24 Dr Beth Cookson
strong and that we work together as the Australian community in the interest of Australia's biosecurity.
00:03:31 Dr Beth Cookson
The more Australians understand biosecurity, the stronger we are together.
[Video ends]
[End of transcript]
We work with communities, industries, organisations and governments in Australia and overseas to strengthen our biosecurity system.
We continue to enhance and widen our biosecurity operations by:
Australia’s Chief Veterinary Officer, Chief Plant Protection Officer and Chief Environmental Biosecurity Officer play a crucial role in our biosecurity system. Together, they provide trusted advice, champion a One Health approach, and guide responses to plant, animal and environmental risks.
Hear from our Three Chiefs about their roles and how they work together to protect Australia.
Biosecurity isn’t just about border checks - it’s a shared responsibility across individuals, businesses and governments. Whether you're a farmer, a traveller, a scientist, or interested in protecting your way of life, everyone has a role to play.
See it. Record it. Report it.
Biosecurity starts with you. If you notice anything unusual or are unsure, call:
Thursday, 20 August
Importers with a proven track record of meeting Australia’s biosecurity requirements can benefit from faster clearance times and fewer inspections through the department’s Highly Compliant Importer scheme.
