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The Department of Agriculture and Water Resources works with its stakeholders to maintain and improve plant health in Australia. Australia has well established government–industry arrangements to support the national plant health system.
Australia’s Chief Plant Protection Officer (ACPPO), Dr Gabrielle Vivian-Smith, is the primary representative of, and an advisor to, the Australian Government on all matters relating to Australia’s plant health status and its supporting systems.
Australia is fortunate to be free from many of the damaging plant pests that occur in other countries.
This freedom helps our producers to access local and overseas markets, protects our unique environment, and supports a healthy way of life for all Australians.
The department provides advice to the Australian Government on cropping industries, including wheat and other grains, oilseeds, pulses, rice, sugar, cotton and seeds to support their continued development and growth.
In Australia, fisheries management responsibilities are spread across multiple jurisdictions (the Commonwealth, states and the Northern Territory). The Commonwealth manages commercial fisheries within the Australian Fishing Zone, which generally extends from 3 to 200 nautical miles off the coast.
In December 2005, the then Minister for Fisheries, Forestry and Conservation directed the Australian Fisheries Management Authority (AFMA) to undertake a number of actions to improve the economic and biological conditions of Commonwealth fisheries. These included:
The management of wild catch fisheries in Australia is a responsibility shared between the Commonwealth, states and the Northern Territory.
The (then) Department of Agriculture and Water Resources (now Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) released the revised policy for public comment over the five week period ending 9 June 2017.
All submissions that were received by the government have been published to the extent possible.
Submissions denoted by ‘*NFP’ (not for publication) relate to:
In December 2005, the Australian Government Minister for Fisheries, Forestry and Conservation issued a ministerial direction to the Australian Fisheries Management Authority under section 91 of the Fisheries Administration Act 1991.
2005 ministerial direction to AFMA PDF 
[300 KB, 5 pages]
Commonwealth fisheries are a shared resource that provide a range of benefits to the Australian community. With many groups accessing Commonwealth fisheries, sharing these resources fairly has been a priority for the government and Australian fishers for many years.
The Commonwealth fisheries resource sharing framework outlines the government’s approach to sharing fisheries resources across commercial, recreational, and Indigenous fishing sectors and between the Commonwealth and the states and the Northern Territory.
