6 December 2023
Who does this notice affect?
Approved arrangements operators, customs brokers, importers, manned depots, and freight forwarders who are required to book and manage requests for inspections through the Biosecurity Portal.
What has changed?
The text in the Preferred inspection period field of the Biosecurity Portal has changed.
The current options are potentially creating uncertainty for inspection requesters about the time of day the inspection will occur. This may result in inspection requesters selecting a category that limits inspection availability and creates inefficiency for both the industry and the department.
The current text is:
- AM (06:30 to 12:00)
- PM (12:00 to 18:30)
- ANYTIME (06:30 to 18:30)
- OVERTIME (outside business hours).
The current text shows the departments core business hours, and requesters may think they need to be available for the entire span of hours listed. This is not the case. Inspections are allocated to premises based on the operating hours listed in the Available for Service hours in their business profile in the Biosecurity Portal.
The text in the Preferred inspection period field of the Biosecurity Portal will be updated to:
- Next Available – to be inspected during the Available for Service hours listed in your business profile.
- AM (by selecting AM you agree to restricting inspection availability to AM slot only).
- PM (by selecting PM you agree to restricting inspection availability to PM slot only).
- OVERTIME (outside departmental business hours – see charging guidelines on the departmental website).
This updated text better describes how inspections are allocated and aims to encourage requesters to select next available which will improve inspection availability for the requester and provide efficiencies for both industry and the department in the booking of inspections.
It is important to note that AM and PM inspection requests will be scheduled during the AM and PM of the Available for Service hours listed in your Biosecurity Portal business profile. By selecting AM or PM you are agreeing to restrict inspection availability to these times only. This will limit inspection slots available. You can maximise inspection availability by selecting the 'Next Available' option.
This change aims to better describe the preferred inspection period and only affects the Biosecurity Portal text. This change does not change how inspection requests are currently managed.
The updated text will be visible to Biosecurity Portal users on 8 December 2023.
The Biosecurity Portal Support guides and frequently asked questions will be updated to reflect the updated text.