Plant biosecurity

The mission of Western Australia's plant biosecurity programs is to safeguard plant resources from exotic and established pests and diseases. The Department of Agriculture and Food, Western Australia (DAFWA) has adopted a 'biosecurity continuum' approach with pre-border, border and post-border biosecurity strategies as integral components of this approach.

The aim of DAFWA’s approach is to identify key threats to productivity, sustainability and market access and outline preventive and response strategies.

The management of biological risks to market access, product safety, quality, productivity and sustainability is a shared responsibility and can be managed together and cost-effectively by means of partnerships between industry, community and government.

DAFWA’s biosecurity policies and operations are targeted to facilitate safe trade, tourism and commodity movement whilst reducing exposure of the State's plant resources to exotic biological risks.

Articles

Serpentine leaf miner : declared pest

3 December 2020

Serpentine leaf miner (Liriomyza huidobrensis) is a tiny fly whose larvae (grubs) damage plants by tunnelling through the inside of leaves.
Biosecurity alerts: Brown marmorated stink bug updates

28 February 2018

Brown marmorated stink bug (BMSB) is not found in Australia, but poses a high biosecurity risk due to their tendency to hitchhike in sea cargo and their highly mobile nature.
Brown marmorated stink bug: declared pest

21 January 2019

Brown marmorated stink bug (Halyomorpha halys) is a mottle brown coloured, shield shaped stink bug.
Codling moth: declared pest

11 April 2014

Codling moth (Cydia pomonella) is a serious pest of apples and other pome fruit and has the potential to cause severe crop losses.
Dothistroma needle blight: declared pest

23 January 2020

Dothistroma needle blight (Dothistroma septosporum) causes needle loss, slow growth and sometimes death in many types of pine and some related conifers.
Fire blight: declared pest

15 August 2022

Fire blight (Erwinia amylovora) is a serious bacterial disease of apples, pears and other plants in the rose family (Rosaceae). This disease is not present in Western Australia.
Glassy-winged sharpshooter: declared pest

16 September 2022

Glassy-winged sharpshooter (Homalodisca vitripennis) is a sucking leafhopper known to be a vector to bacterium Xylella fastidiosa, which causes various serious plant diseases.
Spongy moth: declared pest

15 September 2022

The larval stage of Spongy moth (Lymantria dispar) is a severe defoliator of a wide range of broadleaved trees and shrubs. This pest is not present in Western Australia.
Banana freckle: biosecurity alert

18 October 2013

Banana freckle was detected in Dwarf Cavendish banana fruit in the Northern Territory in May 2022. The Northern Territory Government is responding to this new detection.
Myrtle rust: Biosecurity alert

8 April 2014

Myrtle rust is a serious disease that infects and kills many plants belonging to the Myrtaceae family including eucalypts, bottlebrushes, paperbarks and peppermint trees.