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State and Territory Government Responsibilities
Under the Australian Constitution, State and Territory governments have legislative responsibility for animal health services within their respective borders. State and Territory animal health services administer relevant acts and regulations involved with livestock identification and movement (within and between States and Territories), disease surveillance, diagnosis, reporting (notifiable animal diseases and reportable aquatic animal diseases) and control, chemical residues and other programs. This requires the maintenance of close links with livestock producers, private veterinarians and others associated with livestock industries. An animal health administrative unit headed by a veterinarian designated as the Chief Veterinary Officer (CVO) carries out these tasks in each state and territory.
Veterinary officers located in regions supervise inspectors and administer the application of relevant State and Territory acts and regulations. They also maintain records of the animal health status on farms in their region that assist in the reliable certification of animals moving within Australia and overseas.
The States and Territories also have government animal health laboratories that provide a disease diagnosis and investigation service and may also undertake applied research.