Report 4: 2020-21

Managing the Impact of Plant and Animal Pests: Follow-up

Finding – A Statewide collaborative framework, strategy and plan for pests have been established but gaps remain

Since our 2013 audit, DPIRD has established a framework (Figure 2) for the collaborative management of pests across the State. In consultation with relevant entities it released 2 documents that provide the strategic focus of entities’ efforts to manage pests, define the roles and responsibilities and set out actions to achieve the aims of the strategy. These are:

  • the WA Biosecurity Strategy[1] (Strategy) in November 2016
  • the Invasive Species Plan[2] (Plan) in February 2015.

In November 2016, DPIRD approved policies that define when to declare an organism a pest under the BAM Act. By establishing the framework, defining the roles of entities and the criteria to declare a pest, DPIRD has made progress with 2 of the recommendations from our 2013 audit while helping to ensure pests are properly identified and resources are well targeted.

Source: OAG

Figure 2: Pest management framework

State government entities have developed formal arrangements to collaborate across entity and land boundaries but these are not always effective

Entities formalised the Biosecurity Senior Officer’s Group (BSOG) in 2016 as the main forum where they can collaborate and decide how to best integrate their collective resources to implement the Plan and Strategy. The BSOG includes senior officers from relevant entities who share information, discuss issues and coordinate actions. The entities that make up the BSOG are:

  • DPIRD
  • DBCA
  • Forest Products Commission
  • Department of the Premier and Cabinet
  • Department of Water and Environmental Regulation
  • Department of Health
  • WA Local Government Association
  • Department of Defence (Commonwealth).

By collaborating and exchanging information at BSOG meetings, the participants increase their knowledge of current issues and better coordinate their approaches to managing pests.

DBCA has used memorandums of understanding (MOUs) and developed policy to support collaboration with RBGs to manage pests across boundaries between private land and lands managed by DBCA. In 2018-19, DBCA had MOUs with:

  • Blackwood Biosecurity to manage feral cats, deer, foxes, pigs and rabbits
  • Goldfields-Nullarbor-Rangelands Biosecurity Association for wild dogs
  • Northern Biosecurity Group for wild dogs
  • Wheatbelt Biosecurity Association for wild dogs.

DBCA has also updated its Good Neighbour Guideline and policy to assist relations with its neighbours. Neighbours include any individual or entity, including local, State and Commonwealth government entities that own, occupy or manage lands adjacent to lands managed by DBCA. This collaboration framework enables RBGs to reduce the risk and damage to agriculture and the environment from pests on State managed land.

Despite arrangements to collaborate, stakeholders remain functionally separate bodies with differing priorities whose pest management efforts do not always align. We found that DPIRD is primarily focused on protecting agriculture at a State level and DBCA on protecting biodiversity, while industry and RBGs tend to focus on the pests that threaten their core businesses. For example, we found that DBCA baiting for foxes and feral cats can pose a risk to working dogs on neighbouring farms if they breach fence lines, while the livestock and working dogs from these farms could adversely impact biodiversity and management programs if they are not kept on their properties.

This leads entities, industry and community stakeholders to set priorities, allocate funds and work in partnership based on individual concerns rather than a collective responsibility for the public interest. It is then hard to effectively collaborate and coordinate pest management.

[1]  WA Biosecurity Strategy 2016-2025

[2] Invasive Species Plan for Western Australia 2015-2019

Back to Top