Federal funding for H5 bird flu falls far short

Federal funding for H5 bird flu falls far short

As H5 bird flu continues its spread across the country, the Federal Government has announced an additional $20 million in funding for wildlife resilience.

While we welcome any investment in native wildlife, this funding falls short in matching the scale of the threat of H5 bird flu – which has devastated wildlife populations worldwide and caused mass mortality in wild birds.

Since the virus first arrived on Australia’s shores in June, BirdLife Australia and other wildlife and conservation groups have called on the Federal Government to invest at least $200 million in an emergency Wildlife Resilience Fund to protect our native wildlife and reduce the threats they’re already facing – including funds for habitat protection, monitoring and on-ground conservation efforts.

BirdLife Australia CEO Kate Millar first heard the news, she “thought they forgot the zero”.

“$20 million simply cannot meet the challenge in front of us,” she said.

“Within weeks of the virus arriving in Australia, we’ve seen it spread rapidly from individual birds to mass mortalities and into mammals.

“Communities in South Australia and Victoria are already seeing the devastating consequences of this virus, with dead and dying birds washing up on beaches. People are asking what can be done to protect Australia’s wildlife, and they deserve a government response that matches the scale of what they are witnessing.”

Funds for conservation, not consolation

On Thursday, the Federal Government announced an additional $145 million towards Australia’s H5 bird flu response. Of that funding, $125 million will be allocated to biosecurity and emergency response measures, including surveillance, testing and carcass removal – with the remaining $20 million will support at-risk native wildlife.

While $20 million sounds like a significant investment, it’s only a tiny fraction of the 2026-27 federal budget, of which just 0.06% was allocated to on-ground nature programs – or $1 for nature out of every $1,667.

We know that H5 bird flu could push already threatened species closer to extinction, with 248 Australian birds at high risk of extinction in the event of an H5 bird flu outbreak. There is still no cure for the virus, and with so many threatened species already struggling and declining due to other, growing threats – including the impacts of climate change, habitat destruction and invasive species – it’s critical that we build healthy, resilient bird populations by reducing the threats they face.

“It’s now a wildlife emergency, it’s not just biosecurity preparedness, and we need specific and discrete funds to manage the wildlife challenge in and of itself,” says Kate Millar.

“Australia has a narrow window to act before this virus becomes an even greater threat to our wildlife. We cannot wait for mass mortalities to escalate before we decide that wildlife resilience deserves serious investment.”