Australia’s new Fire Ant Response Plan 2023–27 focuses on strengthening containment and compliance, and intensifying program-led and community treatment using a systematic, outside-in approach.
The plan is backed by our national cost-share partners and it aligns with the recommendations of the Strategic Program Review:
The $592.84 million plan builds on two decades of learning and our experience delivering the world’s most successful fire ant eradication program.
The full Fire Ant Response Plan 2023–27 is unable to be published as it is currently cabinet-in-confidence.
Our containment area wraps around the known fire ant infestation, spanning from Moreton Bay in the north, west to the Lockyer Valley, east to the Gold Coast, and south to the Tweed Shire.
View and download the response plan map (PDF, 1.42MB)
The map provides a visual representation of our strategic approach. This area will gradually reduce in size as treatment progresses inwards and areas move towards declaring freedom from fire ants.
We will also work alongside Queensland's dedicated Fire Ant Suppression Taskforce (FAST) to equip local, state and federal government departments and agencies, and industry and residents in areas awaiting planned treatment, with the skills and knowledge to self-manage fire ants on land they own or manage.
We don't want fire ants in Australia. They’re a highly invasive imported pest from South America and can do a lot of damage. They’re called fire ants because their stings can make your skin feel like it's on fire. Unlike some other insects, they don't just sting and stop. They sting repeatedly and call on their ant friends to do the same. For some people, being swarmed and stung by fire ants can be fatal.
Fire ants have the potential to take over backyards and parks, or destroy the humble picnic and backyard cricket game. They can also attack animals, damage crops and machinery.
If fire ants are left uncontrolled, they could infest 97% of Australia and surpass the combined annual damage of our most invasive pests, costing us up to two billion dollars each year. Without our efforts so far, fire ants would have spread north to Townsville, west past Longreach, and south to Albury by now.
Protecting Australia and Australians from fire ants is a national priority. To ensure we have the best chance of a future free of the pest, we're delivering the fire ant response plan.
Our plan is backed by science, improved technology and innovation, and everything we and the rest of the world knows about fire ant eradication. We need to work from the outside edge of the known infestation and treat 100% of targeted properties multiple times over several years as we move inwards, until Australia is free of fire ants.
In the eradication treatment area, we treat all properties: either by handheld spreader, utility terrain vehicle, or from the air. Treatment is quick, easy and safe. We don't need access to buildings, and we don't treat roofs, waterways, or dams. We will need access to treat 100% of properties, and we’ll need to treat multiple times over several years to ensure all nests are destroyed. Even if there are no obvious signs of fire ants, they could have been infesting your property for months without you even realising.
In the surveillance area, our team is out searching for any nests that may have escaped treatment. Just one missed nest could jeopardise national eradication efforts.
While our eradication officers are busy treating and clearing all fire ants in the eradication treatment and surveillance areas, it's important that we keep fire ant numbers relatively low in the fire ant suppression area. This helps to reduce the chances of people being stung and makes eradication treatment easier when it arrives in that area. The Fire Ant Suppression Taskforce work with property owners and tenants to help them self-treat fire ant nests on their land. There's a range of different options for property owners to quickly, safely and easily treat fire ant nests themselves. To find out which area you live in and how you can help, visit our website.
Fire ant treatment is safe for humans, animals, and the environment. It is tried, tested, and approved by the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority. Our main treatment products are made of tiny pieces of corn grit soaked in soybean oil, which is tasty to hungry fire ants. The oil contains an insect growth regulator, the same one found in everyday pest control products, but at a much lower concentration. For an average suburban yard, we only need to use less than one teaspoon of insect growth regulator mixed in one cup of corn grit.
The worker ants collect the corn grit product and feed it to their queen, which prevents her from producing any new worker ants for several weeks. Without workers, the colony cannot properly feed and care for itself. The product must be applied several times at specific intervals to prevent worker replacement long enough for the colony to die. The low amount of product used and spacing out treatment over multiple years protects our native animals, plants, and waterways.
Fire ants spread relatively slowly on their own, but people can speed them up. Moving materials such as soil, hay, mulch, manure, quarry products, potted plants, and turf carrying fire ants puts our country at risk. Fire ant biosecurity zones are in place, and anyone moving these materials are legally obliged to understand and follow the movement controls.
You can play your part in the fight against fire ants by doing three simple things: Regularly check your property and local neighbourhood for fire ants. We have great resources online to help you identify, report, and - if you’re located in the suppression area - treat fire ants. When our fire ant teams visit your property, let them in so they can do their very important job. It doesn't take very long and they only need access to outdoor areas. If you are moving materials such as soil, mulch, hay or turf, make sure you follow the movement controls so you don't spread fire ants.
We all have a role to play in protecting Australia from fire ants and preserving it for future generations. To find out more about fire ants and what you can do to help, visit us at fireants.org.au.
Cost of eradication
The costs associated with living with fire ants far outweigh what it costs to eradicate them. The costs in the table below are indicative and were calculated in accordance with the cost-sharing formula in the National Environmental Biosecurity Response Agreement.
Program activity | 2023-24 | 2024-25 | 2025-26 | 2026-27 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Eradication treatment | $80,619,827 | $86,666,314 | $93,166,287 | $100,153,759 |
Surveillance | $10,000,000 | $10,750,000 | $11,556,250 | $12,422,968 |
Compliance | $4,575,128 | $4,918,263 | $5,287,132 | $5,683,667 |
Business services | $7,099,682 | $7,632,158 | $8,204,570 | $8,819,913 |
Strategy and policy | $1,595,814 | $1,715,500 | $1,844,163 | $1,982,475 |
Logistics and supply chain | $9,204,293 | $9,894,615 | $10,636,711 | $11,434,464 |
Scientific services | $3,949,219 | $4,245,411 | $4,563,817 | $4,906,103 |
Customer experience and engagement | $8,600,000 | $9,245,000 | $9,938,375 | $10,683,753 |
Information services | $6,450,000 | $6,933,750 | $7,453,781 | $8,012,814 |
Innovation investment | $1,000,000 | $1,000,000 | ||
Annual total | $133,093,965 | $143,001,013 | $152,651,089 | $164,099,921 |
100% coverage of targeted areas
Eradication activities will reach 100% of all targeted properties whether fire ants are visible or not. Fire ant eradication comprises of:
- containment—extensive surveillance activities on targeted properties around the fringe of the infestation
- treatment—broadscale treatment on targeted properties in the eradication area.
This includes up to 6 rounds of broadscale treatment over 2 years, followed by 5 years of intensive surveillance—each using aerial and ground methods.
Prioritising detections
Fire ant detections found within our containment and treatment bands, or outside the infestation boundary, are our priority. We also prioritise detections that risk public safety – schools, childcare centres, parks and sporting fields.
Any outbreaks found beyond the containment boundary will be treated as an emergency response and will receive eradication treatment.
See how we are responding to outlier detections in:
Shared responsibility
The community , industry and all levels of government must play an active role in the fight against fire ants. It is the only way to eradicate this pest and protect Australia from the devastating impacts they can have on our environment, economy, human health and outdoor way of life.
This will include:
- Looking for and reporting fire ants
- Letting our teams in so they can conduct eradication activities
- Checking the fire ant biosecurity zones and following associated movement controls
- Treating fire ants on the land they own or manage
These combined efforts will give us the best and only chance of a future free of fire ants.
