Third party assessors

The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry approves commercial, private and government sites for the purpose of holding goods subject to biosecurity control. To gain this approval, microbiological, animal, aquatic, plant, and invertebrate facilities must meet certain structural and procedural requirements.

The department requires that particular classes of approved arrangement sites comply with the relevant design and construction aspects of the Australian/New Zealand Standards. The table below identifies which standards are relevant to the applicable containment classes.

Table 1: Australian/New Zealand Standards applicable to approved arrangement containment classes

To confirm that a site for one of the above listed classes meets the relevant Standards, you must engage a third party assessor approved by us to undertake an inspection and assessment of that site.

Department approved third party assessors

Table 2 – Department approved third party assessors current as of 11 September 2025.

The list will be updated as more approved third party assessors become available.

Disclaimer: The department is satisfied that the persons listed in Table 2 are suitably qualified to certify that the construction of infrastructure, equipment and other facilities at AA sites comply with the standards as listed in Table 1.

The department and the Commonwealth of Australia shall not be liable for any negligent act or omission or wilful misconduct of any of the persons listed should you choose to enter into an agreement with them to undertake an assessment of your site.

How to apply to become a third party assessor

Applications for potential listing as an assessor must include the following details:

• Applicant’s name and contact details.
• Applicant’s professional qualifications and curriculum vitae or resume.
• A brief statement of the applicant’s professional engineering (building services) qualifications. This must demonstrate the applicant’s competence to assess biosecurity sites.
• Details of the applicant’s experience with physical containment or other facilities using similar technology.
• Names and contact details of at least two referees who can confirm the applicant’s capabilities.
• A proposal of how the applicant would assess biosecurity sites against the relevant Standards.
• A declaration stating that the applicant gives the department permission to provide their name and contact details to relevant approved arrangement sites, and to publish them on the departments website.

Application submissions, or queries for further information about the application and assessment process, should be directed to AA.Canberra@aff.gov.au.

Version control

Updates to this webpage will occur automatically on the department’s website and the revision table below will list the amendments as they are approved.