CEBRA is evaluating investment in biosecurity measures in the Asia-Pacific region to better protect against growing risks in Australia’s neighbourhood.
The current approach to investing in offshore capacity building for pre-border biosecurity is opportunistic and reactive in response to emerging threats in the region. Threats approaching Australia’s border include serious animal diseases like foot-and-mouth disease. Under the status quo, investment in pre-border biosecurity capacity building may be inefficient.
This project aims to assess the benefits of investing in pre-border capacity building for Australia's biosecurity system. The initial focus is on Southeast Asia. A quantitative, evidence-based approach will be used to understand and evaluate the value of proactive interventions aimed at preventing disease spread across international borders more effectively. This, in turn, will strengthen Australia’s pre-border defence to international biosecurity threats. This project will evaluate the effectiveness and returns from ACIAR expenditures on biosecurity in the Asia-Pacific region using existing CEBRA methodology for ‘portfolio allocation’ designed to determine the return on investment of biosecurity measures. Ultimately, we aim to find the best investments in pre-border biosecurity to generate the best returns from investment.
CEBRA Project Leader: Tom Kompas