August 2011

Development Developments

BioSIRT has undergone some significant enhancements since December 2010. These will enable us to keep pace with increased uptake of BioSIRT and increased loads on the application. BioSIRT also needs to keep up with the times and be updated to continue work in a range of host environments. Releases to date are:

BioSIRT v2.1 - Covered a limited range of bug fixes.

BioSIRT v2.1.1 - This patch addressed import/export time-out/failure resulting from large files.

BioSIRT v3.0 - Has been deployed and is under warranty. It includes software upgrades to allow BioSIRT to work in updated host environments. This results in some minor improvements in the speed of the application and other minor improvements resulting from updates to the underlying third party software.

BioSIRT v4.0 - Is expected to be deployed in early 2012. Enhancements and bug fixes will speed application performance using a structural fix, redefine and clarify the import/export rules for template and data movements, enhance mapping, and significantly redesign the Sample Form to better capture diagnostic data.

Welcome

We welcome Robyn Martin, the new General Manager of the Partnerships Branch in the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry. Robyn is trained as a veterinarian who previously headed the Animal Biosecurity Branch. As part of her role, Robyn is now the Chair of the BioSIRT Governance Group.

Paula Phelan joins the National Coordination team as the BioSIRT National Training and Communications Officer.

"Hi everyone, I have just relocated from Sydney where I was working in AQIS as the Program Training Officer at the Sydney Gateway Facility.

Prior to my life with DAFF I was a consultant in the private sector where I was involved in project management and training. In this role I worked across a wide range of industries.

I am looking forward to working with you all and facilitating the growth, understanding and use of the BioSIRT program, which I see as a very important national initiative."

Welcome Back

Lisa Kerr and Karen Absolon have returned from maternity leave. While they are each working part-time, they have already made great contributions to our work and to our office community.

Farewell

At the end of March Nazre Sobhan transferred to the cargo management section in Quarantine Operations branch. We thank Nazre for his valuable contribution in conducting the tender process which resulted in Spatial Vision winning the contract.

At the end of April we said farewell to Peter Frecklington. Thank you Frecko for your significant contribution to the development, implementation and growth of the National BioSIRT Program. Peter and family enjoyed a well earned break on a sun-drenched beach in Queensland. We wish Peter all the very best for the future.

We also said farewell to Nicola Hinder, the chair of the BioSIRT Governance Group. Thanks Nicola for the work you’ve done on improving stakeholder relationships across the National BioSIRT Program. We will miss Nicola’s sense of fun and good humour.

Training and Communication

Advanced administrator training was held in Adelaide in March, including the NBSC-approved modules on Administrator Oversight and Coordination in an Emergency Response, and the revised pilots of the Mapping and Reports modules. The mapping module has subsequently been revised and will be tabled at the May NBSC meeting for endorsement at the June NBSC teleconference.

In early April User and Administrator Training was delivered to DAFF. Ten officers including representatives from the Office of Chief Plant Protection Officer (OCPPO), Office of Chief Veterinary Officer (OCVO), Animal Health Program (AHP), Aquatic Animal Health and the Australian Plague Locusts Commission (APLC) successfully completed the training.

Planning ahead the NCT is developing a training calendar, so we and jurisdictions can schedule national training requirements in advance and ensure resources are available.

With the deployment of v4.0 of BioSIRT and the number of significant enhancements with this release in September, training materials will need a major update in October. If the development schedule is maintained, Administrator training for new v4.0 could commence in November/December.

BioSIRTAdministrators Teleconference

Stephen Pratt has resumed the National BioSIRT Senior Administrator-hosted fortnightly BATs. All current administrators can take part and the BAT aims to promote communication between the jurisdictions and to provide a forum for raising ideas and issues for discussion and clarification. For anyone wanting further details please contact Stephen Pratt or visit Gov Dex.

RRT Exercise Phantom Fox planning underway

The national Emergency Animal Disease (EAD) Rapid Response Team (RRT) was established in 2003/2004. The RRT is a pool of people who can be called upon to assist jurisdictions with the establishment and staffing of control centres during an EAD response.

RRT members are employees of government departments of primary industries/agriculture. Collectively, they have expertise in establishing the key components of local and state control centres in an emergency.

Animal Health Australia manages the RRT when they are not deployed. As a part of developing and maintaining the RRT’s capacity, the RRT undertakes annual professional development activities, including participation in emergency exercises.

The next functional RRT exercise will be hosted by Primary Industries and Resources South Australia (PIRSA). Exercise Phantom Fox will take place from the 14–18 May 2012 and be based around bluetongue disease. The exercise will look at the RRT’s ability to assist PIRSA to meet its obligations under national and state emergency management arrangements and response plans. The objectives of Exercise Phantom Fox are to:

• develop RRT skills in responding to an EAD in a jurisdiction
• provide an opportunity to observe RRT integration
• provide PIRSA personnel with the opportunity to practice implementing EAD response arrangements
• evaluate the use of BioSIRT in a biosecurity response including integration with PIRSA’s corporate information systems.

PIRSA’s Heather Smith is leading development of the scenario. At this stage they are planning to have a state control centre and possibly two local control centres, one in a hypothetical remote area. They intend to use real property data and to develop hypothetical disease information.

BTV template working group

The National BioSIRT Standards Committee has prioritized development of a BioSIRT template for bluetongue virus and a working group has convened to progress this work. The ‘BTV’ template working group and the RRT planning team are liaising on needs for the exercise. PIRSA’s

The BTV template is being developed based on the existing generic disease with vector (GDV) template.

Queensland has recently completed a BTV template based on the GDV template development and development of that templates was led by David Cowland-Cooper(NAQS). Queensland has provided their template specification and the incident report to the NCT. Members of the National BioSIRT Standards Committee (NBSC) BTV working group are David Cowland-Cooper, Kylie Higgins, Rob Baxter and Paula Phelan. Richard Rubira and Steve Davis are providing their domain expertise.