Soil originating from within South East Queensland’s fire ant biosecurity zones is considered high risk for spreading of fire ants.
Soil includes fill, clay, scrapings, site waste and any material removed from the ground at a site where earthworks are being carried out.
How to be compliant
The Biosecurity Regulation 2016 and the Soil Movement Guidelines developed under the Biosecurity Act 2014 details a series of steps you must follow when working with soil:
- processing and treating soil
- treating soil before excavation
- disturbing the soil during or after excavation
- storing soil
- moving soil.
Keep a written record of the steps you take to ensure the soil is processed and stored correctly. Include details about chemical treatments and/or disturbance activities. Keep these records for a minimum of 2 years.
You should also check your property monthly for fire ants, paying special attention to organic material storage areas. This can be done in conjunction with existing property maintenance.
For further information, complete our online fire ant training or contact our compliance team on 13 25 23.
Soil management training video
Clean or dirty fill, clay, shale scrapings, or builders' waste—soil or fill excavated from a property within the fire ant biosecurity zones—is at risk of carrying fire ants. Just because you can't see fire ants or their nests doesn't mean the property is fire ant-free. New fire ant nests can take several months to form, and even then, some can be hard to spot.
Anyone using or working with materials that can carry fire ants is legally obliged to do everything in their power not to spread fire ants. Our soil movement guidelines explain how you can safely move soil within the fire ant biosecurity zones.
If you're wanting to move excavated soil within a fire ant biosecurity zone or from Zone 1 to Zone 2, you should follow one or more of the following options: treat the soil before excavation, only move soil sourced from below one metre underground, disturb the soil during or after excavation, or store the soil appropriately.
If you're looking to treat the site before moving the soil, you should do so at least two weeks before excavating. This involves treating the entire site with fire ant bait as well as directly killing all nests found. Check out our fire ant treatment options video for detailed instructions. If you do find fire ants, you must report them within 24 hours, and if you don't have a licensed pest manager on staff, we suggest you hire someone trained in effective fire ant treatment.
Fire ant colonies are typically located within the top one metre of soil. This means that you can potentially move soil excavated from below one metre without any further action. You must do this within 21 days of excavating the soil. If you are using this option, the soil being moved off-site must only come from an area that has been checked for fire ants by a licensed pest manager after removing and stockpiling the top metre of soil. After excavating the soil below one metre, the stockpiled material can either be used on-site or taken to an approved waste facility located in the same fire ant biosecurity zone. Remember, moving fire ants off-site is an offence.
This method is not recommended when the soil you're working with is soft, loamy, or sandy. There is a higher risk that fire ant queens may be deeper than one metre below the surface in this type of material.
You also have the option of mitigating the risk by disturbing the material you want to move. Disturbance means vigorously turning, crushing, or screening the soil. For best results, you should use a combination of these activities. The disturbance must be thorough and vigorous enough to have an impact on any fire ant nests that may be present. This means the movement needs to be capable of crushing and injuring individual queen ants, killing a nest, or encouraging any surviving fire ants to move their nest elsewhere. We recommend mechanically disturbing large stockpiles in smaller batches to ensure all material is thoroughly disturbed.
Soil stored at a location in the fire ant biosecurity zones should be subject to these kinds of disturbance activities every 21 days and 24 hours before moving the material to another location. If storing or stockpiling soil for more than 24 hours, you should keep it off the ground and covered. This could be in a shed or covered with a shade cloth or tarpaulin. Alternatively, you can keep the soil covered and stored on either concrete or bitumen. Sand is not appropriate. You need to make sure there are no cracks in the surface.
You can also store the soil on a barrier such as a 200-micron unperforated plastic sheet or compacted ground that has been treated. If you choose to follow any of the on-ground storage methods, you should also apply a chemical treatment around the stockpile. Effective treatment is a 30-centimetre-wide strip of bifenthrin-based insecticide. If the soil is stored on compacted ground, the whole surface area should also be treated. The treated area must also be free of materials that the ants could use to cross over the chemical and into the soil—this could be twigs or part of the covering.
All chemicals must be used as per the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority permit, the safety data sheet, and the product label. The permit contains mixing and application instructions for bifenthrin products of various strengths.
In summary, moving fire ants is an offence. You can move soil within the same fire ant biosecurity zone if you follow the treatment, storage, and movement requirements outlined in this video or take the material directly to a waste facility that accepts fire ant material. If you want to move soil from fire ant biosecurity Zone 2 to Zone 1 or outside the zones, you must apply for a biosecurity instrument permit.
If you're buying soil or soil products, you should also ask the seller if the material has been produced and stored in accordance with the regulation. You don't want to be responsible for bringing this pest into your neighbourhood. Make sure you keep records of the actions taken—these will help prove you are compliant. Records must be kept for at least two years, and failure to do so could result in penalties.
Processing and treating soil
If you are intending to move soil within or between fire ant biosecurity zones, you must do 1 or more of the following:
- treat soil before excavation
- take soil from depth
- disturb soil during or after excavation.
You also have the option of storing the soil appropriately.
Business operators
Hire a licensed pest manager 2 weeks before the anticipated excavation date to:
- inspect the area to be excavated. If fire ants are found, you should report them to us within 24 hours
- undertake direct nest injection (DNI) of any fire ant nests
- treat the site with an appropriate bait to prevent fire ants from establishing nests in the area to be excavated.
Residential property occupiers
Purchase and use approved fire ant bait from a local or online retailer to treat the area that is to be excavated.
A newly established, or young fire ant colony is often located in the first metre of soil. You can reduce ant activity and the risk of moving the nest to another location by taking the following steps:
- Remove the top metre of soil.
- Do the necessary excavation.
- Replace the original top metre of soil.
It is important not to mix the top metre of soil with the soil being moved from the site. You must keep the top metre on the property or take it to a waste facility within the fire ant biosecurity zones. Restrictions apply, see table below.
This method is not recommended for areas where the soil type is soft, loamy, or sandy, as fire ant nests can extend further than 1 metre below the surface in areas of these soil types.
Soil that is to be removed from the property should be disturbed every 21 days and 24 hours prior to moving the material to another location. Disturbing soil means undertaking 1 or a combination of the following activities:
- vigorously turning
- crushing
- washing
- screening.
This activity must be undertaken on the entire soil stockpile.
Storing soil
Storing soil appropriately is a simple measure to further reduce the risk of fire ant infestation.
If soil is to remain on the property for more than 24 hours, you must use the following storage options:
- off-ground and covered with an effective barrier that prevents alates (flying fire ant queens) from settling in the soil
- on-ground:
- covered with an effective barrier that prevents alates from settling in the soil, and
- stored on a fire ant-resistant surface surrounded by a 30cm wide perimeter treatment using an approved chemical product.
The role of the perimeter treatment and fire ant-resistant surface is to prevent fire ant queens from crawling into the soil.
Storing off-ground
Soil can be stored off-ground on a trailer and either covered with a tarp or placed inside a shed.
Chemical treatment is not required if storing soil off-ground.
Storing materials on pallets is not considered off-ground storage. Material can easily fall through gaps and form a 'bridge', potentially allowing fire ants to infest the soil. If you want to use pallets, you may do so, but you must follow the recommendations for on-ground storage.
Storing on-ground
Soil can be stored on a fire ant resistant surface. Some examples of fire ant-resistant surfaces include:
- concrete or bitumen (with no cracks)
- a barrier that fire ants cannot penetrate (e.g. 200-micron unperforated continuous plastic sheeting)
- compacted ground (other than sand) that has been treated with an appropriate chemical product before the soil is stored.
You must apply a chemical treatment correctly if using on-ground storage. If the soil will be stored:
- on a fire ant-resistant surface (as above), apply a 30cm wide perimeter around the storage area
- on compacted ground, the entire ground surface must be treated.
It is also important to keep the treated area free of material that could form an untreated bridge to the soil.
The Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA) has approved the use of bifenthrin for the protection of storage areas (PER14317). This permit expires on 28 February 2029.
Insecticides must be used under the conditions of the APVMA permit, the safety data sheet (SDS) and in conjunction with the product's label.
Moving soil
You can move soil within and across the fire ant biosecurity zones if you do one or more of the following:
- transport material from zone 1 to a waste facility in zone 1 or 2
- transport material from zone 2 directly to a waste facility in zone 2 only
- move the material within 24 hours of it arriving at the original place
- follow the fire ant management steps outlined above.
You can also use our material movement advice tool to find out what rules apply to you and your situation.
If cannot comply with these conditions or intend to move soil from zone 2 to zone 1 or outside the zones then you must not move the material unless you are granted a biosecurity instrument permit.