About the Partnerships Against Pests program
The Partnerships Against Pests program is a change initiative responding to the significant impact of established weeds and pest animals and supports partnerships across government, industry and community. It focuses on shared responsibility and a community-led approach to managing established weeds and pest animals.
This aligns directly with Strategic Goal 4 in Victoria’s Biosecurity Strategy:
- Management: Reduce the impacts of established weeds and pests though local action – Supporting local collective action, bringing together all the players to achieve sustainable, long term, whole-of-landscape changes.
It helps Agriculture Victoria to achieve Priority Action 13 from the Strategy:
- Promote and support community led place-based action on established weeds and pests.
The Partnerships Against Pests grants program is being funded via the Victorian Government’s 2022-2023 budget commitment of $500,000 over 2 years to support the delivery of community-led biosecurity programs, and the 2023-24 ‘Backing Victoria’s Producers’ budget initiative of $5 million over 4 years to support community action to manage established weeds and pests.
The impacts of established weeds and pest animals on our landscapes and communities include substantial farm production losses, degradation of our ecosystems, damage to culturally sensitive sites of Victoria’s First Nations people and risks access to international agriculture markets. A recent study by the Australian Bureau for Agriculture and Resource Economics and Sciences estimated that an annual cost of management and lost production to Victoria’s agricultural landowners, due to established weeds and pest animals, is $869 million.
The Partnerships Against Pests Program focuses on improving and strengthening the current system by:
- Forming the Victorian Invasive Pests Advisory Board (VIPA) where community and government work together to plan and deliver better ways to manage established weeds and pest animals.
- Providing grants to help community groups to plan and deliver education and training programs that provide local and long-term solutions.
- Funding engagement officers to support community groups to develop and delivery place based established weed and pest animal projects.
- Funding and supporting Victoria’s 4 Community Pest Management Groups (CPMGs) - the Victorian Rabbit Action Network, the Victorian Blackberry Taskforce, the Victorian Serrated Tussock Working Party, and the Victorian Gorse Taskforce.
The aim is to help build knowledge and capacity of those who undertake activities to control established weeds and pest animals.
Agriculture Victoria will do this by connecting with Traditional Owner groups, community, government, and industry to help coordinate and support their efforts.
Together we can reduce impacts of established weeds and pest animals through collective biosecurity action