New detector dog graduates bolster Australia's biosecurity

The first four new biosecurity detector dogs have graduated their 8-week novice training course at a specialised training facility on Brisbane’s northside.
 
This is the first step in delivering the government’s election commitment of an additional 20 biosecurity detector dogs and 20 detector dog handlers.
 
Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Murray Watt said the Albanese Government’s $11.7 million Bolstering Australia’s Biosecurity System – Detector Dog Capability Increase budget measure will strengthen Australia’s biosecurity system and boost biosecurity services at airports, mail centres and seaports.
 
“The role of detector dogs and their handlers in the biosecurity system is becoming increasingly important in protecting Australia from exotic pests and diseases,”
Minister Watt said.
 
“This year we have seen two highly contagious and potentially deadly livestock diseases spread through Indonesia, putting Australia on heightened alert to keep these diseases off our shores.
 
“Detector dogs are a fast, versatile, and mobile detection tool that can effectively screen across a range of operational environments.
 
“They are trained to sniff out over 250 biosecurity risk items including meat, dairy, fresh fruit and vegetables, plants, seeds, eggs and risky pests like brown marmorated stink bugs.
 
Minister Watt said the nation’s crack team of biosecurity detector dogs certainly earn their keep.
 
“Over the 2021-22 financial year detector dogs recorded over 10,000 interceptions of biosecurity risk items at mail centres and 4,850 interceptions at airports.
 
“Our government’s election commitment will increase detector dog numbers to 62 over the next two years. 
 
“To support the increase in detector dogs, an additional 20 detector dog handlers will join our biosecurity ranks.
 
“Our handlers are biosecurity officers with the specialised skills necessary to effectively train and deploy a detector dog.

Handlers and dogs together create teams that deliver a flexible and highly effective biosecurity risk detection capability
 
“Together with other detection tools like x-rays, they will continue to strengthen our biosecurity system in light of growing risks.”
 
Minister Watt said as more travellers, mail and cargo arrive into Australia, the threat of a biosecurity breach increases.
 
“We need to increase our responses to match those rising numbers,” he said.
 
“Our detector dogs have been at the frontline of successfully keeping Australia free of major pests and disease, and this new capability will help sustain that protection into the future.
 
“The most recent biosecurity detector dog graduates represent all three colours of Labradors: chocolate, black and golden.

“The graduates include Ghost and Dahlia who will transition Melbourne, Kraken who will transition to Sydney, and London who will transition to Brisbane.”
 
Find out more about our detector dogs here: https://www.agriculture.gov.au/biosecurity-trade/policy/australia/detector-dogs
 
Fast facts:

• The increase in numbers of detector dog handlers and dogs will be achieved over the first two years of the Bolstering Australia’s Biosecurity System – Detector Dog Capability Increase budget measure with 8 additional detector dogs and handlers to be onboarded in 2022-23 and 12 additional detector dogs onboarded in 2023-24.
• The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry procures novice detector dogs from the Australian Border Force breeding program.
• Selected dogs are then progressed through the department’s own biosecurity detector dog training program before being deployed to operational environments.