16 December 2020
Who does this notice affect?
All internal and external stakeholders who may require Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment regulatory services between the department’s shut down period.
What has changed?
The Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment Canberra Office will close from COB Thursday, 24 December 2020 and will re-open at the commencement of business on Monday, 4 January 2021.
The Canberra switchboard and the Environment switchboard will be closed from COB Thursday, 24 December 2020 until the commencement of business on Monday, 4 January 2021. Switchboards for locations outside of Canberra will be operating on reduced hours during this period.
The Department’s general inquiry line (1800 900 090) will not operate during the periods noted as ‘Closed’ in the table below.
Regional offices are operating as per the table below.
All online regulatory services and lodgement systems will be available for use over this period. However, processing will only occur by departmental staff during hours of operation specified below. All departmental services will resume at the commencement of business on Monday, 4 January 2021.
| Date | Office Status | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Wednesday 23/12/20 Thursday 24/12/20 | Open | Normal regulatory services available. |
| Friday 25/12/20 Saturday 26/12/20 Sunday 27/12/20 Monday 28/12/20 | Closed | Limited regulatory services available. Appointments for these days must be requested prior to the close of business on 21 December 2020. Note: Overtime requests for export document assessments will be accepted up until 2pm on 22 December 2020. Public Holiday/Weekend – Regulatory services provided on these days will be subject to overtime charges. |
| Tuesday 29/12/20 Wednesday 30/12/20 Thursday 31/12/20 | Open | Limited regulatory services available. Appointments for these days must be requested prior to the close of business on 21 December 2020. |
| Friday 01/01/21 Saturday 02/01/21 Sunday 03/01/21 | Closed | Limited regulatory services available. Appointments for these days must be requested prior to the close of business on 21 December 2020. Note: Overtime requests for export document assessments will be accepted up until 2pm on 29 December 2020. Public Holiday/Weekend – Regulatory services provided on these days will be subject to overtime charges. |
| Monday 04/1/21 | Open | Normal regulatory services available. |
Please refer to any other advice issued via the department’s website to specific services.
Further information
Unless otherwise specified, contact details for the department and regional offices can be found at: https://www.agriculture.gov.au/about/contact
Overtime fees (when applicable) will be charged in accordance with the departments Fees and Charges policy, which can be found on the department’s website.
Please call the department’s general inquiry line 1800 900 090 if further information is required.
If you identify something of concern that may have entered Australia with imported goods report it to See Secure Report on 1800 798 636 or complete the online form.
For urgent inquiries, please contact 1800 798 636
The Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment staff would like to take this opportunity to wish all our stakeholders the very best for the coming holiday period.
We thank you for your cooperation throughout this year and look forward to continuing to work together to protect Australia's strong biosecurity status in 2021.