Biosecurity Strategy

Background

Victoria is developing a Biosecurity Strategy to inform its priorities from 2024 to 2029. The consultation, run by Agriculture Victoria, sought insights about ways to strengthen the Victorian biosecurity system.

Our submission

Good Ancestors Policy believes that agriculture regulators around the world have a critical role to play in reducing pandemic risk. We think pandemics are one of the biggest challenges of the century. While Victoria’s draft proposal acknowledged a “One Health” approach and the connection between animal and human health, it offered no specific proposals to reduce risk or further human health.

In that context, Good Ancestors Policy made a submission calling attention to how Victoria’s Biosecurity Strategy could take responsibility for the zoonotic disease spillover risks within its jurisdiction, and model how other jurisdictions in Australia and around the world could manage their own risks. Recommendations included a survey to identify the zoonotic disease awareness and health behaviours in producers, supporting efforts to reduce contact between livestock and wildlife, and enabling producers to more quickly identify disease in their flocks/herd with rapid and portable diagnostic tests over the course of the strategy. You can read the full GAP submission here.