As part of the Queensland Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry’s (DAFF’s) transformation of biosecurity services, the department is investing in a three-year program to develop a new Biosecurity Information Management System. The NSW software has been provided at no cost to Queensland.

DAFF Director General, Jack Noye, said with Queensland being on the frontline of fighting biosecurity risks in Australia it was imperative there was a system that is efficient, and allows for quick and flexible responses in emergencies.

“NSW recently went through a similar overhaul of their systems, and their new software provides a good basis for us to enhance our own systems,” he said. “At present we have duplication of effort, with multiple systems in place, including some requiring manual data entry.”

“The new system will provide a single online data repository, with automated reporting that allows us to analyse data across biosecurity programs and regions to better manage biosecurity risks. The bottom line is the quicker we can gather and analyse the data, the quicker we can respond to protect the future viability of Queensland agriculture.”

The new Queensland system is expected to be delivered in 2016.