Senator the Hon. Murray Watt and the Hon. Julie Collins MP - Press Conference
11 August 2026
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Press Conferences Australian Parliament
23:58 - 27:22
Speaker 5
Right. We've got everybody? It's good to be with you and it's good to be with my colleague, Senator Murray Watt, who's the Minister for the Environment, and of course our Chief Vet, Dr. Beth Cookson. And today we want to provide you an update on the H5 bird flu vaccines. Since 2024, our government has undertaken a significant amount of work to prepare for the possible use of vaccinations to protect some of Australia's most vulnerable native birds from the H5 bird flu.
We've secured suitable vaccines and undertaken trials and pilots so that if vaccination was needed, that Australia would be ready. Today I can announce that the first vaccines are expected to roll out in coming days and weeks, based on an agreed national approach to the targeted vaccination of priority native bird species. This approach will mean that the states and territories are able to commence vaccination activities, initially focusing on priority species in captivity identified by those states and territories. The priority species will be identified based on vulnerability to the H5 bird flu and the potential conservation impact, informed as always by scientific advice. We've been very clear that we cannot stop the H5 bird flu from spreading amongst wild birds, but we can take action to protect the species most at risk, and the vaccination is now part of that response.
This work has been backed by our investment of almost $2 million into vaccines and trials as part of the $113 million in funding that's supported preparedness and response capabilities. Vaccination activities will be guided as always by expert scientific advice and will build on the work that the states and territories are undertaking on the ground to manage the impact of the H5 bird flu. And I want to be clear, as I said last week, and we have been abundantly clear, that Australians should expect to see more spread and larger numbers, particularly of dead birds and mass mortalities around the country from the H5 bird flu. We have been very clear that this will continue to spread across the country. We also know that as the disease becomes more widespread in wildlife, counting individual confirmed birds no longer gives us the clearest picture of how this disease is spreading.
So our reporting will evolve to focus on confirmed H5 events and the developments that matter most: where the disease is spreading, new locations, or species affected in emerging areas of risk. Australians can be rest assured that our government will continue to communicate updates regularly, as we have from the very beginning, and be transparent. And these updates will be in addition to the regular updates that we put on our birdflu.gov.au with all the latest numbers and detail that we have available. I do want to finish by reiterating that at this time there have been no detections in poultry or in the wider agricultural industry, and that the risk to human health remains low. And again, a reminder to the Australian public, who are doing such a terrific job: if you do see sick or dead birds or other animals, please do not touch them.
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