Who must comply with On-farm biosecurity record-keeping + reporting?

Producers must maintain biosecurity records + immediately report notifiable diseases.

Biosecurity duties on farms come from two levels of law. The Biosecurity Act 2015 (Cth) manages the risks of goods, conveyances and people entering, leaving or moving within Australian territory, while each state and territory runs its own biosecurity law covering what happens on the property, including a list of notifiable animal diseases. Under those state laws, anyone who sees signs or symptoms of a notifiable disease must report it. National hotlines route each report to the right state or territory authority: the Emergency Animal Disease Hotline (1800 675 888) for livestock, wildlife, birds and aquatic animals, and the Exotic Plant Pest Hotline (1800 084 881) for plant pests and diseases, bee pests, new weeds and exotic ants. After reporting a suspected emergency animal disease, the producer must follow the exotic disease outbreak protocol until the government veterinarian arrives. Early reporting matters because diseases such as foot-and-mouth disease, African swine fever and lumpy skin disease are present in nearby countries.

Applies when the business has industry: Agriculture, forestry & fishing.

How the regulator frames it: Livestock and plant producers, aquaculture operators and other agricultural businesses in every state and territory, together with anyone else who keeps animals or grows plants commercially. Plant researchers and scientists must report new organisms or pathogens they discover before taking further action.

What triggers it: Seeing signs or symptoms of a disease on the relevant state or territory's notifiable list, unusual sickness or deaths in animals, or an unusual plant pest, weed or disease, even when unsure.

Jurisdiction: Commonwealth law, so the test is the same in every state and territory.

Outcome across the 35 industries Rules Mate maps (1 of 35: yes; 34 of 35: no).

Structure does not change the answer in agriculture, forestry & fishing: for every structure the answer is "yes".

Size does not change the answer in agriculture, forestry & fishing: at every size band the answer is "yes".

Each line is one run of the Rules Mate applicability engine for a single business profile, with the reason the engine gives:

• Pty Ltd company in agriculture, forestry & fishing with 6–19 employees, turnover $1M–$3M: applies. Industry: Agriculture, forestry & fishing.
• Pty Ltd company in real estate agents with 6–19 employees, turnover $1M–$3M: does not apply. Requires industry: Agriculture, forestry & fishing.

When due

Report straight away through the relevant hotline or state authority, then follow the outbreak protocol and any directions given by government officers.

Frequency

When a triggering event occurs

Evidence to keep

Farm biosecurity plan; the current notifiable disease list for each state in which the business operates; record of each report made (date, time, hotline, reference) and of actions taken under the outbreak protocol; animal health, treatment and movement records; staff briefing on how to recognise and report emergency diseases.

Status

Current

Priority

Critical

Maximum penalty: Penalties for failing to report a notifiable disease, and for breaching movement or other directions, are set in each state and territory's biosecurity legislation and vary by jurisdiction.

Rules Mate has not yet classified the audit or assurance level for this obligation. Any audit, review or certification requirement is set by the regulator source listed below.

If this obligation applies to you, so does this one: the engine uses the same rule for each.

• Use AgVet chemicals in accordance with the APVMA label + state CUP

Across the 1,890 business profiles Rules Mate evaluates, these obligations apply to most of the businesses this one applies to, and are far more common among them than among businesses generally:

• Maintain Hazardous Chemicals Register + manifest (WHS Reg): applies to 100% of the same businesses (11.7× the overall rate)

Rules Mate tracks 3 published obligations tagged "agriculture", 1 of them rated critical. For a professional services Pty Ltd company with 6–19 employees operating in every state, 0 of those apply outright. This obligation is rated critical priority and carries criminal liability, and is triggered by events.

Biosecurity Act 2015: Federal biosecurity regime + emergency animal/plant disease responses.

• Biosecurity Act 2015

Free tools that help with this obligation:

• Compliance calendar builder