Biosecurity management plans

If you keep or own livestock on a Northern Territory (NT) property, you can have a biosecurity management plan (BMP) in place.

A BMP helps protect:

• your property from biosecurity risks when people visit on site
• the NT from various diseases.

Having a BMP is voluntary, but it is recommended.

Rules for visitors

Under the amended Livestock Act 2008 and Livestock Regulations 2009, if you have a BMP:

• a visitor wanting to enter your property must first get consent
• a person who has a legal right to enter your property must notify you first or as soon as possible after entering
  • e.g. Bushfires NT, Power and Water Corporation

Visitors who enter your property must comply with the plan. If they don't, they may face a penalty.

How to make your plan enforceable

For a plan to be enforceable under the law, it must:

• apply to a property that has a property identification code (PIC)
• include reasonable biosecurity measures - read below to find out more
• include specific regulatory information.

You must also:

• notify the Livestock Biosecurity Unit that your plan is in place
• install appropriate signage
• set up a visitor management system.

If you created your plan before the amended Act, you should review it to ensure it meets the above requirements.

Start the process

To start the process, follow these steps:

Step 1. Develop a plan

You can create your own plan or use a template from an industry website, such as:

• Farm Biosecurity
• Integrity Systems website.

You will need to include:

• reasonable biosecurity measures and
• certain regulatory information.

Provide a copy to visitors

You will need to provide a copy of your BMP to visitors so they know the biosecurity rules.

You can choose to prepare a version of your plan, specifically for visitors, that excludes commercial in confidence farm practices.

Step 2. Notify that your plan is in place

Once you have finalised your BMP, you should notify the Livestock Biosecurity Unit that your plan is in place.

The Livestock Biosecurity Unit will first contact you and ask if you want to notify your BMP is in place.

You will need to confirm:

• who your nominated contact person is and
• their contact details.

This allows potential visitors or a person wanting access to:

• check if a BMP is in place using the NT PIC search
• contact the nominated person
• request consent to access the property or give notification of entry.

Step 3. Install signage

To ensure visitors know a BMP is in place, and for regulatory offences to be enforceable, you must install signage.

The signage must include:

• a statement that has the following wording:
  • 'A biosecurity management plan applies to the property.
  • Entry to the property, or part of the property, without consent is restricted under section 16D.
  • Failure to comply with the plan may be an offence against this Act.'
• contact details for the nominated person to request consent
• the word 'STOP' or 'VISITORS'.

Requirements

The sign must:

• be durable and weather-resistant
• be at least 450mm x 600mm
• display clear wording that contrasts with any background colour
• be securely and permanently attached to a gate, fence or signpost, structure or building
• be properly maintained.

Get the NT biosecurity sign template PDF (193.1 KB) to arrange signage that complies with the above requirements.

This template is 800mm x 600mm and can be used by signwriters to print on a range of different materials.

Step 4. Set up a visitor management system

You should have a visitor management system that keeps a record of people entering your property.

This could be a:

• sign-in register that you may already have in place or
• an electronic system that uses a QR code.

A QR check-in app is being developed to help you with this process.

You can also use a paper-based visitor register template on the Farm Biosecurity website.

How to give consent

If a visitor wants to enter the property, they must first contact the nominated person to understand the rules and requirements.

You can give consent in writing or electronically - for example, by email or SMS.

To give consent in writing, you can use a consent or notification of entry form DOCX (27.1 KB).

If you give consent

You must provide the visitor with a copy of your BMP.

While on the property, the visitor must:

• keep a copy of the consent on them at all times
• obey the biosecurity measures in your BMP.

When a person who has a legal right of entry provides notifications of entry, you must provide them with a copy of your BMP.

Penalties

A person may be committing an offence if they:

• enter your property without consent
• don’t have a legal right of access
• don't comply with the BMP.

Penalties include:

• on-the-spot fines (infringement notice offences):
  • individuals - 3 penalty units ($528) to 10 penalty units ($1,760)
  • organisations - 5 times that amount.
• For more serious offending where a person is prosecuted and the matter goes to court:
  • individuals - maximum of 20 to 100 penalty units (between $3,520 to $17,600)
  • organisations - 5 times that amount.

These penalties are current to June 2024.

More information

To get property biosecurity planning resources from industry, go to the Farm Biosecurity website.

Contact

For more information, contact your local regional livestock  biosecurity officer.

You can also contact the NT Cattlemen's Association on 08 8981 5976.