Pin 02 · Reporting an exotic pest

Reporting an exotic pest: the national lines and your state

If you see a pest, a plant disease or a sick animal you do not recognise, Australia’s outbreak website asks you to report it, “even if you’re not sure”. One national phone line takes plant pests, bees, exotic ants and new weeds, another takes animal diseases, and both direct you to your own state or territory government.

General information. The official places to check are the Australian Government’s outbreak.gov.au and your state or territory’s biosecurity agency, linked below.

Pin 02, in orange, among the six. The pins mark articles, not places.

The national lines

Three numbers, three kinds of report

outbreak.gov.au says you can make the call wherever you are in Australia, and that plants, animals and marine pests each have their own reporting route. The three national hotlines it lists:

Plants, bees, ants, weeds
Exotic Plant Pest Hotline
1800 084 881
For signs of plant or bee pests and disease, new weeds or exotic ants. The call is directed to your state or territory government.
Animals
Emergency Animal Disease Hotline
1800 675 888
For pests and disease in livestock, wildlife, birds and aquatic animals. This call is also directed to your state or territory government, and after reporting you need to follow the exotic disease outbreak protocol until the government veterinarian arrives.
Cargo, containers, parcels
See. Secure. Report. Hotline
1800 798 636
For signs of pests, or anything unexpected, in cargo, containers or parcels arriving through airports, seaports and international mail.

Marine pests are different: they are reported to the authority in the state or territory where you found them, and the outbreak site lists each one.

Reporting duty

Notifiable diseases and pests

Some reports are not optional. Every state and territory keeps a list of notifiable animal diseases, and by law you must report any signs or symptoms of them, outbreak.gov.au says.

Queensland shows how a state puts it. Its Department of Primary Industries says a suspected notifiable animal disease must be reported to Biosecurity Queensland on 13 25 23 or to the Emergency Animal Disease Hotline, and a suspected notifiable plant pest or disease to Biosecurity Queensland on 13 25 23 or to the Exotic Plant Pest Hotline.

The lists differ from state to state, so the state agency in the table below is the place to find yours.

Your state or territory

The biosecurity agency in each state and territory

The plant pest and animal disease hotlines direct callers to their own state or territory government. outbreak.gov.au also lists each state’s department of agriculture or primary industries as a general contact, and asks that reports go through the hotlines.

The state and territory contacts listed on outbreak.gov.au, named as each agency’s own page names itself (NT and ACT as listed on outbreak.gov.au), 8 October 2026.
Where	Agency	Its page
New South Wales	NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development	NSW DPI: biosecurity
Victoria	Agriculture Victoria	Agriculture Victoria: biosecurity
Queensland	Biosecurity Queensland, Department of Primary Industries	Report a biosecurity pest or disease
South Australia	Department of Primary Industries and Regions (PIRSA)	PIRSA: biosecurity
Western Australia	Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD)	DPIRD: biosecurity
Tasmania	Biosecurity Tasmania, Department of Natural Resources and Environment Tasmania	Biosecurity Tasmania
Northern Territory	NT Government	NT Government: biosecurity
Australian Capital Territory	ACT Government, through Access Canberra	ACT Government: biosecurity

Outbreaks

Current responses, and risks from nearby

Responses under way

The outbreak site keeps a list of current responses that you can browse by state or on a map. On 8 October 2026 its home page named, among others, the browsing ant, electric ants, the polyphagous shot-hole borer, banana freckle disease and the Asian green mussel. The current outbreaks list gives the detail for each.

Emerging risks

It also lists emerging risks: pests and diseases not currently in Australia that have been found in nearby countries. The three it names are African swine fever, foot-and-mouth disease and lumpy skin disease.

Early signs

The outbreak site’s advice is to report anything unusual, because small signs may be an early indication that something is wrong.