Vinehealth Australia advises industry that the development of the new Biosecurity Act has reached a new milestone, with a draft Bill now available for review. This Bill has been drafted based on feedback from previous consultations and submissions since the work began in 2019. The draft Bill once passed through Parliament will become an Act.
Vinehealth Australia has proactively sought Crown Solicitor advice to assist in understanding any impacts on the powers and functions of the Phylloxera and Grape Industry Act 1995 (PGI Act) as a result of the draft Biosecurity Bill. Once we have this advice, we will be in a position to have informed discussions with industry.
Vinehealth is looking to the draft Biosecurity Bill to:
- Ensure that strong biosecurity arrangements continue for the industry and state;
- Ensure the intent of the Phylloxera and Grape Industry Act 1995 is not compromised by this new Biosecurity Act;
- Identify future opportunities for the grape and wine industries and Vinehealth Australia; and
- Identify updates that will be required to the PGI Act to reference the new Biosecurity Act.
We remind industry that the Phylloxera and Grape Industry Act 1995 was originally one of the Acts identified to be repealed and incorporated into this Bill, however this is no longer the case.
Public consultation of the draft Biosecurity Bill is currently open until 26 September 2023.
You can learn about the Biosecurity Bill by:
- Reading the draft Biosecurity Bill
- Reading the draft Biosecurity Bill overview
- Reading the draft Biosecurity Bill explanatory guide
- Reading the draft Biosecurity Bill information sheet
- Watching the introductory video
Feedback to the draft Biosecurity Bill is through completion of a survey via YourSAy. While we encourage anyone in the wine industry to consider a submission, we understand that the material is very heavy reading, and that it is difficult to provide a submission without first understanding the consequential impacts to the PGI Act.
If you wish to pose any questions to PIRSA now, prior to submitting formal feedback, you can do this via email to PIRSA.BiosecurityACT@sa.gov.au or by calling 8429 0654.
According to PIRSA, the draft Biosecurity Bill is proposed to:
- Ensure protection from pests and diseases that threaten our economy, terrestrial and aquatic environments or may affect public amenities, communities and infrastructure;
- Provide South Australia with a modern, flexible and responsive biosecurity framework;
- Bring consistency to the management of biosecurity across industries, by incorporating a number of biosecurity related Acts; and
- Promote shared responsibility for biosecurity amongst government, industry and community.