Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2024L01747:reg:4:p79
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2024L01747
Segment Type: reg
Provision Reference: reg 4 (pt 79/80)
Character Range: 299013–302092

in targeted areas where they pose the greatest threat to biodiversity and/or where the likelihood of positive biodiversity outcomes may be most substantial and enduring.

Threat abatement plans have a statutory review point within 5 years of a plan being made or varied. This threat abatement plan is estimated to have a life of approximately 10 years, subject to the outcome of the 5-year review. Dependent on the degree of implementation and success of that implementation, some or many of the objectives and actions in this plan may be valid for the entire life of the plan. Recognising the 5-year statutory review point, costs in section 9.2 are estimated over 5 years, with implementation progress and changing circumstances to be accounted for in revising cost estimates for remaining actions at the time of that review.

     9.2 Implementing and investing in the plan

The plan includes some actions that require coordination at national or regional scale, and other actions that should be implemented at local scale: the success of the plan will depend on all participants assessing cat impacts and allocating adequate resources to achieve effective on-ground control of feral cats at their local, critical sites.

The Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water will collaborate with other Australian Government agencies; local government; state and territory conservation and pest management and research agencies; industry; community groups; non-government organisations; First Nations people; landholders and volunteers; to facilitate implementation of the plan and collaborative reporting of progress against its actions.

Given the wide geographical extent of the threat from cats, and the large number of native species affected by cat predation, regional natural resource management plans and site-based plans may provide a suitable scale and context for integrating these individual priorities and developing operational plans to manage cats. They allow biosecurity, agricultural production, human health and amenity, and environmental considerations to be jointly addressed, and allow management to be integrated across the local priority vertebrate pests within the scope of other natural resource management priorities.

The Australian Government investment in this plan includes:

    * The Commonwealth is committed, via the EPBC Act, to implement the threat abatement plan to the extent to which it applies in Commonwealth areas.

    * The Australian Government's Threatened Species Action Plan 2022-2032 includes targets for enhanced feral cat management, and protection for priority species and places that are adversely affected by cats (see section 9.3).

    * The national Feral Cat Taskforce, convened by the Threatened Species Commissioner, provides a forum for governments, experts and stakeholders to coordinate and collaborate on strategies and actions for feral cat management.

    * The Australian Government invests in priority research to inform cat management through the National Environmental Science Program; and