National biosecurity reform agenda
17 July, 2026
The signatories to this submission appreciate the willingness of DAFF and the National Biosecurity Committee to engage with us at
A range of submissions to a wide range of government inquiries into weeds, pest animals and environmental diseases in Australia.
The signatories to this submission appreciate the willingness of DAFF and the National Biosecurity Committee to engage with us at
The Invasive Species Council welcomes the opportunity to comment on the exposure draft of the National Environmental Standard (Matters of
The Invasive Species Council welcomes the opportunity to comment on Tasmania’s draft Cat Management in Tasmania discussion paper. Tasmania’s current
The Invasive Species Council welcomes the opportunity to comment on Tasmania’s draft Threatened Species Strategy. While it provides a high-level
The Murray–Darling Basin (MDB) is one of Australia’s most ecologically and economically significant regions. Stretching across 4 states and one
The 2026 Victorian fires – which tragically claimed one life, burned over 400,000 hectares, and destroyed 900 buildings, including at
Invasive species are a leading cause of biodiversity loss and species extinction in Australia and cost an estimated $25 billion
The recent EPBC Act reforms failed to address a threat which has caused more Australian animal extinctions than any other
Australia is overrun by invasive species that hunt, trample, disease and outcompete native wildlife. They degrade ecosystems, erode Indigenous culture,
This submission is in response to the invitation by the Tasmanian Government to providecomments on the discussion paper provided regarding
Some of Australia’s most precious places are imperilled by inaction on threatening processes. For example, the corals reefs of the
Offsets have generally failed to compensate for environmental damage not otherwise avoided or mitigated. But done well, offsets can present
In this submission we raise the question of whether Karenia mikimotoi – or the strain causing the algalbloom in South
The NSW Parliament should reject the Game and Feral Animal Legislation Amendment(Conservation Hunting) Bill 2025 for the following reasons:
Invasive vertebrates are the biggest driver of animal extinctions in Australia and imperil more than 500 threatened species while causing
Submitted: April 2016
The Queensland Weed and Pest Animal Strategy can be significantly strengthened to maximise the effectiveness of invasive species control and management under the new Act.
Submitted: April 2016
Tasmania should play a strong leadership role in national policy on biosecurity and invasive species. Leadership in these areas would not only benefit Tasmania but all of Australia.
Submitted: March 2016
Invasive species are an even bigger problem for the natural environment than they are for agriculture, and so demand a greater focus on reducing their risks to the environment through the NSW Biosecurity Act.
Submitted: March 2016
Moves to allow the commercial use of feral bumblebees in Tasmania by changing national environmental laws could pave the way for other harmful invasive species being illegally introduced into Australia.
A joint submission to the Natural Resources Commission review of pest management in NSW.
The Invasive Species Council endorses most of the objectives and actions outlined in this comprehensive draft plan. The plan is mostly clear and succinct.
A joint submission by the Invasive Species Council and the Queensland Conservation Council to the Queensland Biosecurity Capability Review. The submission argues for a greater focus on the environment, improved preventive action and more involvement of the community.
The proposed new direction is unclear, despite the value of underpinning concepts of coordination and collaboration. The paper either signifies an exciting new era or government retreat from all but a few popular causes.
A submission to the Australian government draft feral cat threat abatement plan that seeks improved nationally coordinated action and funding to reduce the environmental impact from feral cats. Submitted July 2015.
A submission to the draft Western Australian State Biosecurity Strategy.
A joint response by the Invasive Species Council and the Australian Marine Conservation Society to a government issues paper.
A submission by the Invasive Species Council to the Senate inquiry into the Biosecurity Bill 2014 and endorsed by 27 other environmental groups.
A submission consisting of 15 case studies that form an attachment to the primary submission to the Senate inquiry into preventing new invasive species.
In September 2014 we made a submission into the Australian Government’s inquiry into the adequacy of arrangements to prevent the
A submission to the review of the import risk analysis process by the Department of Agriculture conducted between July and September 2014. The submission argues that a systematic risk-based approach be used to determine priorities for future import risk analyses and that the process could be improved through greater independence, better use of environmental expertise and the precautionary principle and an extended appeals process.
In this submission, we call on the Hon Kate Worden MLA, Minister for Environment Climate Change and Water Security to declare buffel grass a weed under the NT Weeds Management Act for all land tenure in the Northern Territory.
The Invasive Species Council strongly support the use of aerial shooting, when undertaken by highly trained professionals using standard protocols, as one of the available control methods for feral horses in Kosciuszko National Park.
Our submission to the Inquiry into Pounds in NSW has been endorsed by the Australian Wildlife Society, Birdlife Australia, the Nature Conservation Council of NSW and WIRES; our submission addresses policies, legislation and structures needed to support appropriate cat management to limit the impacts on wildlife.
The harm and impact of invasive species and disease is having a significant impact on Victoria’s agricultural economy as well as the natural environment and community safety and well-being. While there are flaws in Victoria’s current system of managing invasive weeds and pests, hopefully these will start to be addressed through this biosecurity strategy.
Environmental and First Nations organisations have written to UNESCO, the United Nations body responsible for World Heritage sites, seeking intervention on the growing impacts of feral deer in and around the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area (TWWHA).
Since the advent of the EPBC Act over 20 years ago, at least 7 unique animal species and probably 2 plant species have become extinct.
The Invasive Species Council appreciates the opportunity to make a submission to this important Senate inquiry into the impacts and management of feral horses in the Australian Alps.
The Invasive Species Council considers the Import risk review for psittacine birds from all countries highly inadequate.
Investing in prevention and early action are always the most cost-effective and damage mitigating approach to invasive species, but the current level of funding allocated to environmental biosecurity priorities is insufficient and this is costing Australia.
The Invasive Species Council recommends that the Gene Technology Regulator refuses the application for a licence to conduct a field trial of perennial ryegrass genetically modified for increased metabolisable energy content. We strongly disagree with the assessment that the ‘risks to the environment from the proposed release are negligible’.
Feral deer in Tasmania have been increasing in numbers and distribution at an alarming rate, with the current population likely exceeding 100,000 and covering 27% of the State. This ever expanding population now threatens Tasmania’s unique and outstanding natural and cultural values along with highly valued agriculture and forestry.
The Invasive Species Council welcomes the opportunity to provide comments on options for sustainable funding and investment to strengthen biosecurity.
The Invasive Species Council welcomes the opportunity to provide a submission into the draft of Tasmania’s Biosecurity Strategy 2022-2027. The draft strategy is a well developed document, and shows that Tasmania takes biosecurity seriously, and considers all components as important.
The discussion paper presents a clear vision for a stronger, streamlined and inclusive Biosecurity act.
An inquiry by the Senate Environment and Communications References Committee. Supplementary submission by the Invasive Species Council.
Our protected areas are being trashed, trampled, choked and polluted by an onslaught of invaders. Invasive species are already the overwhelming driver of our animal extinction rate, and are expected to cause 75 of the next 100 extinctions.
But you can help to turn this around and create a wildlife revival in Australia.
From numbats to night parrots, a tax-deductible donation today can help defend our wildlife against the threat of invasive weeds, predators, and diseases.
As the only national advocacy environment group dedicated to stopping this mega threat, your gift will make a big difference.
A silent crisis is unfolding across Australia. Every year, billions of native animals are hunted and killed by cats and foxes. Fire ants continue to spread and threaten human health. And the deadly strain of bird flu looms on the horizon. Your donation today will be used to put the invasive species threat in the media, make invasive species a government priority, ensure governments take rapid action to protect nature and our remarkable native wildlife from invasives-led extinction, death and destruction.
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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.
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.