HAVE YOUR SAY ON THE FUTURE OF NSW’S BIOSECURITY FRAMEWORK
Media release /Wednesday 1 July 2026
The Minns Labor Government is inviting members of the community to provide feedback on a draft NSW Biosecurity Strategy that will provide the focus for improvements to the state’s biosecurity framework over the next 10 years.
The draft strategy helps address recommendations made by the Natural Resources Commission and former Independent Biosecurity Commissioner Dr Marion Healy to improve strategic planning and coordination for pest and weed management.
It outlines a clear whole-of-government approach to strengthen how NSW manages the risk of disease, pests, weeds and other biosecurity risks to protect the state’s most important assets and values.
Biosecurity is a shared responsibility, and input from industry, businesses, organisations and the community will help ensure the system is effective into the future.
The Draft Strategy focuses on four priority areas:
- Strengthening adoption and compliance with the biosecurity duty, including the actions a person must take to protect what is important and meet their legislative obligation.
- Driving partnerships and collaboration to support cross-tenure and cross-sector outcomes nationally and across NSW, regionally and locally
- Delivering an agile and strategic approach to prepare, prevent, respond and recover from biosecurity risks; and
- Improving biosecurity systems and infrastructure that enables coordinated and dynamic approaches to planning, surveillance and compliance.
The NSW Government is seeking your feedback on what is working well and what needs to improve, as well as the biggest challenges facing biosecurity now and in the years ahead. Feedback will be used to inform the final Strategy, to be released later this year.
Delivery of this strategy will mean that the commitments and investment by government are targeted and effective at delivering outcomes for our economy, environment and community.
The final Strategy will be supported by an Implementation Roadmap to outline the key actions government will take to deliver on the Strategy’s outcomes from 2027.
The Strategy is a key deliverable of the NSW Biosecurity Action Plan 2025-26, providing a clear direction for government’s role in shaping improvements across the biosecurity framework. The Biosecurity Action Plan has delivered a number of improvements to the biosecurity system to date with more in progress, including:
- Improved support for local control authorities to tackle priority weeds through a 4-Year Weeds Action Program
- A dedicated biosecurity compliance and investigations unit to improve compliance with biosecurity obligations
- Establishing an Integrated Regulatory Framework for NSW with regular reporting on compliance activities
- Improved coordination and decision making with a new State Biosecurity Committee
The draft strategy is open for feedback until 29th July 2026 via the Have Your Say website at https://www.haveyoursay.nsw.gov.au/nsw-biosecurity-strategy
Minister for Agriculture, Tara Moriarty said:
“Biosecurity is everyone’s responsibility, and a whole of government Biosecurity Strategy shows this government is serious about making coordinated improvements to see real progress in how we prevent, respond to and manage biosecurity threats.
A Strategy that’s clear about what government will deliver has been called for by farmers, industry and the community, and this draft provides a critical opportunity for people to have their say on how NSW biosecurity will be improved over the short, medium and long-term.”
NSW Independent Biosecurity Commissioner Dr Katherine Clift said:
“The risks facing our biosecurity system are continuing to evolve, with increasing complexity driven by global trade and travel, environmental and land use changes resulting in new pathways for diseases, pests and weeds.
A strong strategy is critical to support clear, evidence-based and transparent decision-making in biosecurity. It helps set clear priorities, and ensures investment is targeted where it will deliver the greatest benefit.
This Draft Strategy is an important step in strengthening accountability and system performance, providing a foundation for a more coordinated, risk-based and outcomes-focused approach to managing biosecurity in NSW.”
