Stuart Robert (Fadden, Liberal Party, Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme) Share this | Hansard source

The Agriculture Legislation Amendment (Streamlining Administration) Bill 2019 will make amendments to the Biosecurity Act 2015 and the Imported Food Control Act 1992 to provide for automated decision-making. The bill will ensure there is a clear statutory basis for applications of automated decision-making under the Biosecurity Act; enable wider use of automated decision-making to issue biosecurity directions and notices for imported food control certification; enable the Director of Biosecurity to determine by a legislative instrument which biosecurity officer decisions under the act may be made by the operation of a computer program; and authorise the secretary to arrange for automated decision-making for certain sections of the Imported Food Control Act.

These changes will improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the Biosecurity Act and the Imported Food Control Act and ensure that Australia's biosecurity system continues to keep pace with the changing biosecurity environment. This is particularly important in an environment where there are high volumes of goods and vessels entering Australia, with 45,000 commercial cargo referrals a month, and where intensive resources are necessary to prevent incursions of high-risk pests and diseases such as the African swine fever virus and the khapra beetle. I commend the bill to the House.

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