The future of biological management in Australia Executive summary 2025 Citation and authorship CSIRO (2025) The future of biological management in Australia – Discussion paper. CSIRO, Canberra. This report was authored by CSIRO Futures, with support from CSIRO’s Ag2050 and Biosecurity teams. CSIRO Futures At CSIRO Futures we bring together science, technology, and economics to help governments and businesses develop transformative strategies that tackle their biggest challenges. As the strategic and economic advisory arm of Australia’s national science agency, we are uniquely positioned to transform complexity into clarity, uncertainty into opportunity, and insights into action. Accessibility CSIRO is committed to providing web accessible content wherever possible. If you are having difficulties with accessing this document, please contact csiro.au/contact Acknowledgement CSIRO acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the land, sea, and waters, of the area that we live and work on across Australia. We acknowledge their continuing connection to their culture, and we pay our respects to their Elders past and present. The authors are grateful to experts who generously gave their time to provide input to this project through consultations, reviews and feedback. We thank the scientists from CSIRO’s Agriculture and Food Research Unit, Environment Research Unit, Health and Biosecurity Research Unit, Responsible Innovation Future Science Platform, and the Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness. Copyright notice © Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation 2025. 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Executive summary This discussion paper articulates the need for more sophisticated approaches to manage biological threats to Australia’s agricultural industries and environment. It provides an overview of next generation approaches to biological management, cross-cutting challenges, and the national planning required to support the development and deployment of these approaches within the Australian context. The content of this paper was informed by desktop research and consultation with CSIRO scientists. More sophisticated approaches to biological management will be critical to protect Australia’s natural assets and support productive, resilient and sustainable industries. Australia boasts strong agricultural and tourism industries worth a combined $150 billion annually. These industries are integral to both domestic and global markets. Biological management is imperative for safeguarding these industries and Australia’s unique environmental assets from biological threats. Traditional approaches to biological management, including the use of conventional pesticides, have been effective for Australia. However, there are several factors driving changes to the threats themselves, as well as the types of approaches deemed suitable for their management (Figure 1). Figure 1: Factors driving the demand for different biological management approaches Resistance development Biological threats are increasingly developing resistance to pesticides (e.g., diamondback moth, silverleaf whitefly, fall armyworm, and multiple weeds). Global climatic changes Changing climates will alter biological threat relationships affecting factors such as pest geography, disease epidemiology and host resilience (e.g., warmer temperatures are expanding the geographic range of buffalo flies). Environmental impacts Drift of pesticides away from intended targets, the persistence of residues and potential off‑target effects remain notable areas of environmental concern. Trade policies and barriers The European Union has prohibited the use and import of products grown with certain conventional chemical control methods. Consumer demands Australian consumer demand for organic food is growing at a rate of 20–30% per year, with consumers advocating for more sustainable biological management practices. Technology driven productivity Advancements in detection, analysis, modelling and deployment are accelerating the development and use of next-generation biological management approaches. Next generation approaches are emerging that could offer solutions to the evolving needs of biological management. Five next generation approaches were considered which leverage advancements in biochemistry, genomics, engineering biology and computational technologies to produce more targeted and effective outcomes. As noted in Figure 2, several of the approaches explored have technically and commercially mature examples globally; however, these often relate to a small number of target species and contexts of use and require further development for application within the Australian context. While suitable regulatory pathways exist in Australia for all five of the approaches assessed, only two had examples that had gone through the full approval process. Each next generation approach was found to have wide applicability across different threats, sectors, and stages of biological management. Technologies like advanced bioinformatics, advanced deployment techniques and ex vivo models were found to be key enablers to the successful development and deployment of these approaches. Figure 2: Snapshot of assessment ratings for next generation approaches (criteria definitions in Appendix 1) CRITERIA Technology readiness level (max. global) Commercial readiness index (max. global) Large-scale deployment (Australia) Regulation (Australia) Applicability Sector Stage Example threats Biopesticides and biostimulants 9 6 < 5 years Demonstrated Diseases Pests (invertebrates) Weeds Environment Horticulture Exclusion Management Containment • Green peach aphid • Powdery mildew • Septoria tritici blotch Pheromones and behaviours modifiers 9 6 < 5 years Demonstrated Pests (invertebrates) Weeds Forestry Horticulture Livestock Management Containment Surveillance • Diamondback moth • Fall armyworm • Parkinsonia Gene silencing 9 6 5–15 years Pathway exists All threats All sectors Exclusion Management Containment • Cotton bollworm • Fall armyworm • Myrtle rust fungus Sex biasing systems 9 3 5–15 years Pathway exists Diseases (via vectors) Pests (all) All sectors Management Containment • Fall armyworm • Mosquito species • Silver carp Gene drives 5 1 By 2050 Pathway exists All threats All sectors Exclusion Management Containment • Invasive rodents • Mosquito species • European rabbit Australia needs a clearer plan for the future of biological management. While the need for more sophisticated approaches is already here, their development and large-scale deployment could be more than a decade away for some applications. These timelines are driven by several challenges, including the increased technical complexity of next generation approaches, limited large-scale production systems, low end-user and investor awareness and understanding, the need for enhanced monitoring and data sharing, and the need for more sustained funding. There is an urgent need for Australia to have a clear plan for how next generation approaches will be sustainably invested in, tailored for the Australian context, and made accessible for those who need them. CSIRO considers this an activity of national importance and is seeking partners to support further analysis against the objectives and example research questions outlined below. Objective 1: Support the case for investment in biological management 1. What is the value of biological management to Australia and what is the potential future value of next generation approaches? 2. What are well quantified examples of successful biological management in Australia? 3. How does Australia’s investment in biological management compare to other countries? Objective 2: Develop a 2050 vision and strategy for biological management in Australia 1. What is the maturity of next generation approaches across different contexts of use and applications that will be beneficial for biological management in Australia? 2. What might the use and combination of traditional and next generation approaches look like in 2050, and how does this differ from the current state? 3. Which next generation approaches are Australia best placed to focus on based on local threats and capability (e.g., research, development, commercialisation, production, and large-scale deployment)? Objective 3: Develop priority actions to support a 2050 vision 1. What are the key technical barriers that could delay or prevent the development and adoption of next generation approaches in Australia? 2. What are the key non-technical and system-level barriers that could delay or prevent the development and adoption of next generation approaches in Australia? 3. What infrastructure and skill gaps exist that will be required to support the production, deployment and monitoring of next generation approaches in Australia? 4. How can regulators be supported to improve efficiency, adaptability, and coordination, while maintaining robust and independent oversight in a fast-changing technological and threat landscape? 5. How might industry, government, and other stakeholder groups (e.g., philanthropic organisations) prioritise and better align or complement their investments to support a 2050 vision and strategy? 6. What new business and collaboration models might help to ensure value is captured by all stakeholders along the development pathway of next generation approaches? For further information Greg Williams Associate Director, CSIRO Futures greg.williams@csiro.au csiro.au/futures Rose Roche Principal Research Scientist, Ag2050 rose.roche@csiro.au Raghu Sathyamurthy Research Director, Biosecurity raghu.sathyamurthy@csiro.au