DAFF - Three Chiefs Newsletter September 2023

Wednesday, September 20, 2023

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Three Chiefs Newsletter
September 2023

In this quarter, the chiefs continued to engage with international colleagues to progress Australia's biosecurity. The Australian Chief Plant Protection Officer, Dr Gabrielle Vivian-Smith, attended the Pacific Plant Protection Organisation's board meeting in the Cook Islands where Australia supported the attendance of delegates from American Samoa, Marshall Islands and the Federated States of Micronesia to ensure the whole Pacific family could contribute to better plant biosecurity decisions for the region. The Australian Chief Environmental Biosecurity Officer, Dr Bertie Hennecke, travelled to Germany for the biodiversity and ecosystem gathering of 143 governments, which launched the 'Invasive Alien Species Report'. The Chief Veterinary Office hosted delegates from Indonesia to showcase Australia's biosecurity import systems. The office also provided assurances to international trading partners that Australia is free from Lumpy Skin Disease. 

Australian Chief Plant Protection Office (ACPPO)

International collaboration on sea container cleanliness

How can the global community minimise the threat of hitchhiker pests via sea containers without disrupting trade? Representatives from across the globe met in July to discuss just this question.
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ACPPO webinar: The slippery science of seaweed biosecurity

How do we treat seaweed in our biosecurity system? It's a plant, but it's cultivated in 'hatcheries', which sound animal. It's farmed, but in the marine environment. It can be both an aquatic product and a pest.
This complex biosecurity quandary was the topic of the ACPPO webinar during National Science Week.
 
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Addressing the biosecurity challenges of the Pacific Games 2023

With the 2023 Pacific Games to be held in Honiara this November, the city is buzzing! Both government and business are getting ready to host an influx of visitors from 24 competing countries. The Pacific engagement programs for both plant and animal health have been working with their Solomon Islands biosecurity colleagues to help them prepare.
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Celebrating women in plant science

One area of the Department of Agriculture Fisheries and Forestry is leading the way and providing a powerful example of gender equity in science. 
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Australian Chief Environmental Biosecurity Office (ACEBO)

ACEBO attends international launch of invasive species report

The Australian Chief Environmental Biosecurity Officer, Dr Bertie Hennecke joined representatives from 143 governments in Bonn, Germany for the tenth session of the Plenary of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services held in September 2023.
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Ministers launch new plan to manage feral deer

Two and a half years of hard work and extensive collaboration came to fruition in August with the launch of Australia's first National Feral Deer Action Plan at a two-day workshop in Canberra. 
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Test drive the Biosecurity Commons!

The Biosecurity Commons is a biosecurity modelling platform that has demonstrated proof of concept. It launched in May this year and is currently available for use as a beta version.
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Australia Chief Veterinary Officer (ACVO)

Chief Veterinary Office in Northern Australia up and running

The Office of the Chief Veterinary Officer (OCVO) – Northern Australia is well and truly up and running, led by Australian Deputy Chief Veterinary Officer Dr Beth Cookson.
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Supporting our near northern neighbours to achieve rabies "Zero by 30"

Australia has been strengthening pre-border biosecurity efforts to control dog-mediated rabies through assistance to our near northern neighbours including Indonesia and Timor-Leste.
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Building Pacific partnerships for animal health

An officer from the Chief Veterinary Office has been embedded within the Pacific Community in Fiji for several weeks to provide strategic and technical support in the lead-up to the upcoming meeting of the Pacific Heads of Veterinary and Animal Production Services in late October.

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Pest profile: High pathogenicity avian influenza (HPAI) 

Avian influenza is a highly contagious viral disease of birds and can affect most wild and domesticated bird species. HPAI viruses are a subset of all avian influenza strains that are identified by certain molecular markers that are associated with the ability to cause severe disease and mortality, usually in poultry.
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Upcoming events

 
  • September is Biodiversity Month in Australia (DCCEEW-led)
  • 21 September: ACEBO webinar - Australia's RIFA response and Xylella preparedness
  • 26-28 September: ACVO Dr Mark Schipp attending the WOAH Council meeting in Paris.
  • 28 September: ACPPO Webinar: Boosting Diagnostic Capability
  • 28 September: World Rabies Day
  • Late September: World Rabies Day Biosecurity Webinar Series (Dr Beth Cookson).
  • 4 October: World Animal Day  
  • 9-13 October: ACPPO Dr Gabrielle Vivian-Smith attending the Commission for Phytosanitary Measures Strategic Planning Group and Bureau Meeting at the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations in Rome.
  • 16-22 October: National Water Week
  • 16-22 October: National Bird Week / Aussie Bird Count
  • 30 October-1 November: PHOVAPS (Pacific Heads of Veterinary and Animal Production Services) in Nadi, Fiji.
  • 3 November: One Health Day
  • 7 November: ACEBO webinar: Sustainable funding for environmental biosecurity
  • 13-17 November: WOAH Regional Commission meeting in New Delhi.
  • 11-19 November: Australian Pollinator Week
  • 17 November: National Agriculture Day
  • 20-22 November: ACVO Dr Mark Schipp speaking at the 3rd Australian Veterinary Antimicrobial Stewardship Conference.
  • 21-23 November:  ACPPO Dr Gabreille Vivian-Smith attending Plant Health Committee meeting in Canberra
  • 20-24 November: ACPPO team showcasing plant and environmental biosecurity careers at the Australian Plant Pathology Conference, Adelaide.
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We acknowledge the Traditional Owners of country throughout Australia and recognise their continuing connection to land, waters and culture. We pay our respects to their Elders past, present and emerging.