The research team for the highly successful CRC10010: [1]Enhanced Risk Analysis Tools project held its final Expert Reference Panel in early December. The meeting was the culmination of over two years of work for this multi-disciplinary group of researchers from CSIRO, Department of Primary Industries Victoria and Department of Agriculture and Food Western Australia.

The team, led by Dr David Cook (CSIRO), presented decision-support technologies designed to assist the apple and pear, potato, vegetable and various new and emerging industries to plan for invasive species impacts. These decision-support tools combine computer simulation models of outbreak scenarios and multi-criteria analysis to suggest the highest priority threats, how future incursions might be managed and how to contend with information uncertainty.

While providing an overview of the successes of the project, the workshop’s primary focus was on the bioeconomic models designed to simulate the economic damage that could be caused in future pest and disease outbreaks. The project team demonstrated the features of the model by using a case study familiar to most attendees at the workshop; fire blight. The panel discussion revolved around the key model inputs, assumptions, outputs and how these can be presented in a manner suitable for group decision-making workshops. 

The workshop was well attended by both industry and regulators, with the panel being made up of a variety of representatives from organisations including:

• Apple and Pear Australia Limited (APAL)
• Department of  Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry – BioSIRT Program
• CSIRO
• Horticulture Australia Limited
• Office of the Chief Plant Protection Officer
• Plant Health Australia
• Rural Industry Research Development Corporation (RIRDIC)

The tools delivered at the workshop were well received by the panel, with both industry and regulators agreeing that they would provide valuable assistance in prioritising biosecurity threats and directing resource allocation. Having achieved all agreed industry milestones, the project team have agreed to investigate further opportunities to employ decision-support tools with APAL and RIRDC in the remaining time of the project to ensure the uptake of the technologies they have produced.

Article written by: Cain Roberts, Delivery and Adoption Officer