Priority plant pests
The National Priority Plant Pests, identified by Plant Health Committee, highlight the sort of threats Australia faces from plant pests. While they are not the only plant pests of biosecurity concerns, they are used to focus government effort and national preparedness capability. These pests have the potential to cause significant damage to our plant industries, our environment and our way of life, and it is in the national interest to be prepared.
Our approach
National action plans for National Priority Plant Pests set out how we will prepare for these threats. They identify the capabilities to improve the way we prevent these pests from entering Australia, and to detect and respond to incursions if these pests were to enter Australia.
Responsibility for oversight of the national action plans, and monitoring implementation of actions lies with the relevant sectoral committee under the National Biosecurity Committee.
The national action plans are living documents and will be regularly reviewed. Additional plans are being developed and will be made available when finalised and endorsed.
National Priority Plant Pests and national action plans are a national resource to focus investment and effort.
National action plans
Xylella and exotic vectors
The National Xylella Action Plan 2019-2029 provides a nationally agreed approach to enhance Australia’s capacity to prevent the introduction of Xylella and exotic vectors and prepare for a response, should it be detected in Australia, and sets out how the actions to achieve this outcome.
The Plant Health Committee is responsible for this national action plan.
| Action Area | Completed projects | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Prevention | 1.2 | Identify plants that occur in Australia that are known, or have potential, to be hosts | National Priority Plant Pests True Host List and Risk Pathways project delivered. |
| Detection | 2.2 | Establish high-throughput diagnostic testing capacity and capability | The surge capacity project has been delivered. The purpose of the project was to pilot workflow simulators and determine the most useful, effective tool for evaluating surge capacity for rollout to all relevant laboratories likely to be involved in emergency responses. Surge capacity workflow simulators for the high-throughput PCR-based Xylella fastidiosa (Xf) diagnostic workflow were designed for six Australian diagnostic laboratories. The simulator developed is also useful for other leaf foliar pathogens which utilises PCR-based techniques; however, the model requires further validation and real-time testing to ensure the projections are accurate. |
| Response | 3.2 | Develop tools and systems to capture, store and analyse real-time surveillance, spatial and diagnostic data to support a response in the Australian context | Jurisdictions have a variety of response systems used for biosecurity response; minimum data standards have been agreed and no further action is planned. |
Downloads
| Document | Pages | File size |
|---|---|---|
| National Xylella Action Plan 2019-2029 PDF | 40 | 2.2 MB |
| National Xylella Action Plan 2019-2029 DOCX | 40 | 2.3 MB |
If you have difficulty accessing these files, visit web accessibility for assistance.
Exotic invasive ants
The National Invasive Ant Biosecurity Plan 2018-2028 provides a nationally agreed approach to enhance Australia’s capacity to manage the ongoing threat of invasive ants establishing in Australia and the impacts caused by those species already established.
The Environment and Invasives Committee is responsible for this national action plan