Review of the Biosecurity Act 2014
The Biosecurity Act 2014 (the Act) came into effect on 1 July 2016 and contained a requirement for the Minister for Agricultural Industry Development and Fisheries and Minister for Rural Communities to assess its efficacy and efficiency within three years of it commencing.
The review was conducted in 2019 by Biosecurity Queensland on behalf of the Minister in close collaboration with key industry and other peak bodies.
Findings
The review found the Act is working well and the concepts are sound.
However, there are some valuable learnings around the following:
- maturity of the understanding of General Biosecurity Obligation in the farming community and the listing of particularly risky species
- time needed to resolve uncertainty during emergency biosecurity events
- improvements required in how individual biosecurity plans are written
- protection from biosecurity risks created by unauthorised access
- limitations on local government efficiency in fulfilling their duties under the Act
- updates to authorised officer training
- need for added protection of farmers’ information.
Recommendations
The review outcomes include recommendations for 22 mostly minor Act amendments around:
- policy (9)
- communications and research (3)
- training (5)
- administration (5).
Biosecurity Queensland gained valuable information about how it can better assist other government departments to fulfill their obligations under the Act.
More information
- Report on the Review of the Biosecurity Act 2014