The new Qld Biosecurity Act 2014 – what have we learned? What needs to change?

Abstract

The Queensland Biosecurity Act 2014 commenced On 1 July 2016, introducing fundamental changes to how biosecurity risk is managed in Queensland. The general biosecurity obligation now requires everyone to take all reasonable and practical steps to prevent or minimise biosecurity risks. Three years on, Queensland has just completed a review of the efficacy and efficiency of the new provisions covering:
• how the shared responsibility function has been applied
• how the risk based decision making function has been utilised
• experiences under the emergency powers
• how the performance of compliance and enforcement has faired
• where the third party accreditation has been utilised
• how has the administrative functions under the Act faired
This presentation will explain key results from the review including policy questions around what Local Governments can manage under the Act, flexibility in the use of emergency powers, improved communications around the general biosecurity obligation and consistency in risk based decision making methods. It will also outline the process from here.