NOOSA BIOSECURITY PLAN 2026-2031 · Report

GENERAL COMMITTEE MEETING                                                               9 JUNE 2026


A. Note the report by the Coordinator Biosecurity to the General Committee dated 9 June 2026 for
   the Draft Noosa Biosecurity Plan 2026 – 2031;
B. Approve the Draft Noosa Biosecurity Plan 2026–2031 provided at Attachment 2, for the purposes
   of community engagement;
C. Authorise the Chief Executive Officer to undertake community consultation on the Draft Noosa
   Biosecurity Plan 2026–2031 in accordance with Council’s Community Engagement Plan
   provided at Attachment 3; and
D. Note that a further report will be presented to Council following completion of the community
   engagement process, including a summary of submissions and any proposed amendments to
   the Draft Noosa Biosecurity Plan 2026–2031.


REPORT
Biosecurity is defined as efforts to prevent, respond to and recover from pests and diseases that
threaten the economy and the environment. Under the Queensland Biosecurity Act 2014 all public
and private landowners have a general biosecurity obligation to take all reasonable and practical
measures to prevent or minimise biosecurity risks on human health, amenity, economy and the
environment.

The development of the Noosa Biosecurity Plan is consistent with the Noosa Environment Strategy
2019 for biodiversity and sustainable living goals of improving the condition and extent of our natural
ecosystems and adopting sustainable agricultural practices.

The Plan does not consider fauna species protected under the Nature Conservation Act 1992 that
may be a nuisance to some residents, such as flying-foxes, magpies, brush turkeys and snakes.
The purpose of the Plan is to manage invasive plant and animal biosecurity risks to people
biodiversity, and the local economy based on priorities and actions that are reasonable and practical
for the community and land managers.

A biosecurity risk assessment using the standardised approach developed by Biosecurity
Queensland has identified the highest priority invasive species, their management feasibility, and
appropriate management approach across the Noosa Shire. Invasive species have been
categorised into four management objectives based on the risk assessment results: Prevention,
Eradication, Containment and Asset-based protection. Although landowners have a biosecurity
obligation for all scheduled species, identifying priorities allows a planned approach to invasive
species management, particularly for large landholders like Council.

The Noosa Biosecurity Plan 2026 -2031 applies the Biosecurity Act 2014 at a local level and covers:
•   Roles and responsibilities of Council, other public agencies and private landowners
•   Processes for reporting of invasive species and management responses
•   Shire-wide risk assessment to establish priorities for managing invasive species
•   Reasonable and practical measures for managing invasive species through prevention,
    eradication, containment and asset-based protection depending on the extent of infestation and
    management feasibility
•   Methods and timing for management of invasive species
•   Invasive species management tools and support
•   Regulation and compliance
•   Information capture, methods used for detection and reporting to broaden current knowledge of
    the distribution and abundance of invasive species