There has been considerable progress in recent months against key priority areas supporting delivery of the National Fruit Fly Strategy. These include the initiation of fruit fly hypothetical sessions to be held in Brisbane and Melbourne, as well as 15 workshops aimed at further developing a national approach to the fruit fly management system, convening of a series of Council working groups covering trade, research and extension and preparation of National Fruit Fly Implementation reports and future plans.

Plant Health Australia, in collaboration with the Department of Agriculture, Water, and the Environment, will conduct a ‘Fruit fly hypothetical’ in July 2022 to explore potential impacts to industry and trade if there was a change in Australia’s fruit fly distribution. The session will consider preparedness activities that could help minimise these impacts.

We have recently commenced a series of workshops to further develop a ‘National approach to fruit fly management as a system’. The purpose of these sessions is to build a common understanding of Australia’s complex and interdependent fruit fly system: what’s at stake; what’s the critical factors for success; where are we most at risk; and how to influence the system? They also provide the Council with broader input, helping to shape the story around this and the agenda for national fruit fly priorities.

The 2021–22 Implementation Report and 2021-22 Implementation Plan is being finalised. The report summarises progress and achievements from 1 July 2021 to 30 June 2022. Progress in each of the eight key result areas from the National Fruit Fly Strategy (NFFS) 2020-25 are tracked against the strategic framework and objectives within the NFFS. The Implementation Report is finalised in June of the previous financial year and published along with the next financial year’s Implementation Plan.

The 2022–23 Implementation Plan is also progressing. The plan collates key fruit fly activities that have been planned and resourced by stakeholders from 1 July 2022 to 30 June 2023 and maps them against priority areas in the National Fruit Fly Strategy (NFFS). This is then used to monitor progress against the NFFS and identify gaps that need to be addressed in the national system. The implementation plan acknowledges many different stakeholders’ considerable and ongoing contribution to fruit fly management in Australia. Importantly, it provides an opportunity to collectively consider potential gaps in this system as guided by the Intergovernmental Agreement on Strengthening Australia’s Fruit Fly Management System.

A comprehensive review of the operations and composition of the Council is well underway and final recommendations were considered at the recent meeting. A series of new working groups are being considered through the Council for broader engagement across the national fruit fly system. These include working groups for trade, research and extension stakeholders.

A short-term working group is being convened to discuss the high priority area of agri-chemical issues relating to fruit fly management. The group will work closely with the Council to identify and progress short- to medium-term issues and solutions to support industry in current and emerging agrichemical challenges as well as other more novel approaches to fruit fly management.