Biosecurity In-Language Resources

You may be eligible for an Owner Reimbursement Cost payment if:

1. You are a commercial grower; and 
2. During a biosecurity emergency, the government has carried out or ordered you to undertake any of the following activities: 
   1. Destroy your crops; 
   2. Quarantine your property; 
   3. Have a fallow period; 
   4. Take other direct eradication action(s) under a Response Plan; and
3. As a result of the above activities, you incur a cost or loss which is an inclusion in Owner Reimbursement Costs.

Owner Reimbursement Costs may cover: 

1. Direct eradication costs you incur, that are additional to your ordinary operating costs,
2. The value of the crops destroyed; 
3. Loss of income resulting from an order that a property must fallow for a specified period; and/or 
4. In certain cropping industries (such as tree crops), depreciated replanting costs.

During a biosecurity emergency, you may be visited by a government Biosecurity Officer and given a letter that formally notifies you that an Emergency Plant Pest has been detected on your property. 

The government Biosecurity Officer will arrange with you how to deal with the Emergency Plant Pest, for example, make an appointment to destroy host plants on your property. 

At this stage we recommend contacting NT Farmers for assistance, for example to assess whether you are eligible to apply for an Owner Reimbursement Cost payment.

You must make a claim for Owner Reimbursement Cost within ninety days after: 

1. The date of destruction of the crops or other property; and/or 
2. The date you receive an order for a fallow period. 

The claim must be made in the approved claim format (which can be obtained from your state or territory government) and include evidence to support your eligibility for assessment. 

The claim will then be assessed by an independent valuer.

Owner Reimbursement Costs must be paid out within sixty days of the completion of the valuation. But the government may make earlier payment (before the valuation is completed), particularly in circumstances of hardship.

The type of evidence needed will usually depend on the type of crop that was destroyed. Existing evidence frameworks may be found here. 

Owners will need to have auditable records to support their claim for Owner Reimbursement Cost.  Good record keeping practices are an important part of usual business activity. This includes recording the cost of doing business, as well as the value of the produce you sell. 

The area of the crop destroyed, evidence of current and past yield and farm gate value of your product may be used to calculate the value of the crop destroyed.

For example, auditable records of replanting costs may be used as evidence to claim Owner Reimbursement Cost for partial replanting costs in certain industries.

Auditable records of production costs may be used to calculate future costs and value of your crop to allow you to claim the loss of net profit from compulsory fallow (this payment is only available for some crop types).

Evidence required will be different, depending on your industry. 

The value of destroyed crops is obtained by calculating the area of the crop destroyed, evidence of yield and farm gate value of your product.