What is antimicrobial resistance?

• Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is one of the biggest threats to both human and animal health. AMR can affect anyone, of any age, and in any country. AMR occurs when germs that can cause infections become resistant to medicines, such as antibiotics, that are used to kill them.
• Antimicrobials are medicines that kill or slow the growth of germs (bacteria, virus, fungus) that cause diseases. Antimicrobial resistance may lead to ‘treatment failure’, the inability to treat the cause of an infection.

The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry is Australia’s largest public sector employer of veterinarians.

If you are interested in an exciting, challenging and rewarding career, we encourage you to consider the opportunities that the department can offer.

The work of the Office of the Chief Veterinary Officer and the department is critical to Australia’s biosecurity system by protecting the health of our animals, people and environment from the problems of animal pests and diseases.

This work includes:

The Office of the Australian Chief Veterinary Officer (OCVO) is a team of scientists and policy makers who support the Australian Chief Veterinary Officer (ACVO), Dr Beth Cookson in the delivery of her role and responsibilities.

The ACVO is the primary representative of, and advisor to, the Australian Government on all matters relating to the maintenance and improvement of Australia’s animal health status and the systems that support it.

The Office of the Chief Veterinary Officer (OCVO) and Biosecurity Animal Division facilitate the development of national policies and strategies and the provision of scientific advice to minimise the potential impacts of diseases on Australia’s animal health.

We regulate the export of live animals and animal reproductive material from Australia.

Types of animals exported

Animals that can be exported from Australia include:

• livestock
• horses
• companion and assistant animals
• birds
• laboratory animals
• zoo and exotic animals.

Our definition of livestock includes sheep, goats, cattle, buffalo and camelids.

How to export live animals

If you export live animals, you must comply with:

Publication details

Animal Health Committee (AHC), June 2025

The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry provides national leadership in international aquatic animal health activities. These contribute to:

Risks to aquatic animal health come from a variety of sources, including:

​​​Aquatic animal disease incidents do occur within Australia. When a disease incident occurs, Australia’s response arrangements may be activated to minimise their potential impacts on aquaculture, fisheries resources or the environment. Several recent aquatic animal disease incidents of significance are included below for information.

For information on all current responses to exotic animal and plant pest and disease outbreaks nationally, refer to outbreak.gov.au.