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Win for nature as Australian Government elevates environmental biosecurity

The Invasive Species Council celebrates the Australian Government’s decision to elevate the role of the Chief Environmental Biosecurity Officer, saying it sends a strong signal that protecting Australia’s environment from invasive species is being taken seriously at the highest levels of government.

The newly senior role elevates the Chief Environmental Biosecurity Officer to the same level as the Chief Plant Protection Officer and Chief Veterinary Officer – a priority reform the Invasive Species Council has been campaigning for. 

Applications for the new position close on 23 November 2025: Australian Chief Environmental Biosecurity Officer | APS Jobs.

‘This is an important structural shift to elevate the importance of environmental biosecurity threats like bird flu, myrtle rust and fire ants within the department,’  Invasive Species Council Dr Carol Booth said.

‘This might seem like a minor departmental reshuffle but it’s an important signal from the Australian Government that environmental biosecurity is just as important as agricultural biosecurity.

‘Environmental invaders have already caused massive damage to Australia, degrading land and water and driving extinctions. They have been by far the leading cause of animal extinctions and new threats like murder hornets, predator snails or rock snot will drive further declines if they make it to our shores.

‘For too long, environmental threats have not been given the same level of attention as industry priorities, despite the scale of national impact our wildlife and landscapes are facing and the flow-on impacts to our economy and communities. 

‘Environmental biosecurity must be treated as a national priority – and so we are pleased to see this important step.’

Ian Thompson, former Australian Chief Environmental Biosecurity Officer and chair of the Invasive Species Council’s Science Committee, said: 

‘This elevation of the Chief Environmental Biosecurity Officer’s role gives environmental biosecurity a clearer mandate and strong voice within the department. It’s an important signal across the public sector and community that nature matters – and that environmental biosecurity is a priority.

‘It’s an excellent step forward that needs to be matched with modest increased investment to empower the Chief Environmental Biosecurity Officer’s work to build government, community and industry capacity.

‘The Environmental Biosecurity Project Fund is the only dedicated fund for environmental biosecurity but it has been stuck at just $850,000 a year since 2018.

‘This should be increased to at least $2.5 million a year to enable the multi-year, high-impact projects urgently needed to protect our environment from new invaders.

‘This fund supports critical, science-based projects that improve early detection, surveillance, and response to invasive species that threaten Australia’s wildlife and precious places.’

Media inquiries: (02) 8006 5004

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    Dear Project Team,

    [YOUR PERSONALISED MESSAGE WILL APPEAR HERE.] 

    I support the amendment to the Kosciuszko National Park Wild Horse Heritage Management Plan to allow our incredible National Parks staff to use aerial shooting as one method to rapidly reduce feral horse numbers. I want to see feral horse numbers urgently reduced in order to save the national park and our native wildlife that live there.

    The current approach is not solving the problem. Feral horse numbers have rapidly increased in Kosciuszko National Park to around 18,000, a 30% jump in just the past 2 years. With the population so high, thousands of feral horses need to be removed annually to reduce numbers and stop our National Park becoming a horse paddock. Aerial shooting, undertaken humanely and safely by professionals using standard protocols, is the only way this can happen.

    The government’s own management plan for feral horses states that ‘if undertaken in accordance with best practice, aerial shooting can have the lowest negative animal welfare impacts of all lethal control methods’.

    This humane and effective practice is already used across Australia to manage hundreds of thousands of feral animals like horses, deer, pigs, and goats.

    Trapping and rehoming of feral horses has been used in Kosciuszko National Park for well over a decade but has consistently failed to reduce the population, has delayed meaningful action and is expensive. There are too many feral horses in the Alps and not enough demand for rehoming for it to be relied upon for the reduction of the population.

    Fertility control as a management tool is only effective for a small, geographically isolated, and accessible population of feral horses where the management outcome sought is to maintain the population at its current size. It is not a viable option to reduce the large and growing feral horse population in the vast and rugged terrain of Kosciuszko National Park.

    Feral horses are trashing and trampling our sensitive alpine ecosystems and streams, causing the decline and extinction of native animals. The federal government’s Threatened Species Scientific Committee has stated that feral horses ‘may be the crucial factor that causes final extinction’ for 12 alpine species.

    I recognise the sad reality that urgent and humane measures are necessary to urgently remove the horses or they will destroy the Snowies and the native wildlife that call the mountains home. I support a healthy national park where native species like the Corroboree Frog and Mountain Pygmy Possum can thrive.

    Kind regards,
    [Your name]
    [Your email address]
    [Your postcode]


    Dear Project Team,

    [YOUR PERSONALISED MESSAGE WILL APPEAR HERE.] 

    I support the amendment to the Kosciuszko National Park Wild Horse Heritage Management Plan to allow our incredible National Parks staff to use aerial shooting as one method to rapidly reduce feral horse numbers. I want to see feral horse numbers urgently reduced in order to save the national park and our native wildlife that live there.

    The current approach is not solving the problem. Feral horse numbers have rapidly increased in Kosciuszko National Park to around 18,000, a 30% jump in just the past 2 years. With the population so high, thousands of feral horses need to be removed annually to reduce numbers and stop our National Park becoming a horse paddock. Aerial shooting, undertaken humanely and safely by professionals using standard protocols, is the only way this can happen.

    The government’s own management plan for feral horses states that ‘if undertaken in accordance with best practice, aerial shooting can have the lowest negative animal welfare impacts of all lethal control methods’.

    This humane and effective practice is already used across Australia to manage hundreds of thousands of feral animals like horses, deer, pigs, and goats.

    Trapping and rehoming of feral horses has been used in Kosciuszko National Park for well over a decade but has consistently failed to reduce the population, has delayed meaningful action and is expensive. There are too many feral horses in the Alps and not enough demand for rehoming for it to be relied upon for the reduction of the population.

    Fertility control as a management tool is only effective for a small, geographically isolated, and accessible population of feral horses where the management outcome sought is to maintain the population at its current size. It is not a viable option to reduce the large and growing feral horse population in the vast and rugged terrain of Kosciuszko National Park.

    Feral horses are trashing and trampling our sensitive alpine ecosystems and streams, causing the decline and extinction of native animals. The federal government’s Threatened Species Scientific Committee has stated that feral horses ‘may be the crucial factor that causes final extinction’ for 12 alpine species.

    I recognise the sad reality that urgent and humane measures are necessary to urgently remove the horses or they will destroy the Snowies and the native wildlife that call the mountains home. I support a healthy national park where native species like the Corroboree Frog and Mountain Pygmy Possum can thrive.

    Kind regards,
    [Your name]
    [Your email address]
    [Your postcode]