About

How we are advancing risk science and systems thinking for biosecurity and market access

Protecting biosecurity is a complex balancing act – and new challenges continue to emerge as global interconnections grow, pest treatment options change, and new technologies come online.

It is essential that our scientific methods keep pace with evolving risks and opportunities.

CSIRO researchers are bringing together systems thinking and risk science to advance the way we assess biosecurity risks and select phytosanitary measures to enable market access.

Around the world, frameworks have been implemented to enable risk-based trade. Often, however, industry and governments do not have the right tools to efficiently and accurately estimate biosecurity risks, explore risk mitigation options, or assemble robust evidence to support decision-making.

Our research aims to address these challenges. We seek to collaborate across the international research and policy community to catalyse the further development, testing and harmonisation of the scientific principles and methods that underpin phytosanitary risk assessment and management.

With its partners, CSIRO is working to co-develop a set of concepts, methods, models and tools that can be used to:

  • Support more detailed biosecurity risk estimates, including to better account for background factors such as pest exposure and host vulnerability
  • Assess how practices and technologies used in commercial production systems and supply chains may reduce risks, and better incorporate these estimates in risk assessments
  • Categorise how various risk mitigation measures work and quantify their effectiveness – individually and in combination
  • Inform the design of risk mitigation measures, movement controls or entry conditions that are better calibrated with risk estimates
  • Bring together data from multiple sources for more advanced analysis to support biosecurity decision-making

By applying consistent and rigorous methods, biosecurity stakeholders can build greater confidence in phytosanitary risk management measures and systems.

Our Risk Framework provides the foundation for our phytosanitary risk models and tools. Learn more on our Risk Tools and Publications pages.