We are pleased to announce that the 2021/2022 membership fees have not increased for the 2021/2022 membership period.

The renewal invoices were sent to all members on the 1st February.  

SAVE TIME – RENEW ONLINE! 

1. Go to www.aepma.com.au
2. Click on Industry Portal
3. Log in with your username and password (valid for current members)
4. Click on “Manage My Account”, then go to “Memberships”, click on “Renew/Upgrade” button 
5. Fill in the online payment form
6. Your membership will automatically be updated
7. IMPORTANT – Check your profile details and amend if necessary.

Why join AEPMA?

The AEPMA national office gets asked this quite a lot! 

One of the main reasons to join AEPMA is

Job Referrals
The AEPMA National Office receives telephone enquiries daily from consumers seeking a pest manager which, in turn, are referred to member companies.  

The AEPMA website receives enquiries every day through its “Search for a Pest Manager” facility and these are referred to member companies.  

Commercial entities are particularly careful about the companies they engage to do pest control work and AEPMA is well known in the business world as a reference for ethical and professional pest management companies.

Read more here

AEPMA Pesticon 2021 – Pest Management in the Digital Age

Planning for Pesticon 2021 has started!

The event will be held on 22-24 September 2021 at The Star, Gold Coast, QLD.  

The key message for the conference is “Pest Management in the Digital Age” and will include outstanding and interesting presenters, with up to the minute topics and workshops to help you and your business stay relevant in this rapidly changing world.  The Exhibition Hall will again be the hub of activity at the conference, with manufacturers and suppliers showcasing the latest products and services.

Now, more than ever, Pesticon 2021 will provide an ideal networking opportunity for those in the industry to come together to share their knowledge and experience.

Keep an eye on the conference website over the coming months for further details regarding the event.

We look forward to seeing you at the Gold Coast!

Victoria Branch Meeting 

Essendon Bowls Club
Friday 26th March, 2.00pm

We will be farewelling Jim Westhead at this Meeting, who retired from Bayer last year so Members and prospects Welcome!  There will be an informal gathering after the Meeting.

We will be using Eventbrite for RSVP for this Meeting so please register your attendance by 19th March.

Given, it has been a while since our last Meeting any Agenda items or matters you wish to raise please feel free to contact us on info@aepma.com.au 

Register for the meeting here

QLD Branch - Update

The Qld AEPMA Branch General Meeting on 12/2/21 was a virtual event and the first meeting of the year.  

John Murray chaired the meeting with apologies from Shane Osborne. 

Contact with Queensland Health continues to be problematic despite the need for the Qld Medicines and Poisons (Pest Management, Poisons, and other Regulated Substances) Regulations 2019 still to be finalised. 

Other issues of concern with Qld Health relate to slow response to enquiries and delays in issuing new licences.  Legislation to amend the Commonwealth Mutual Recognition Act 1992 to enable Automatic Mutual Recognition (AMR) of occupational licenses is due to come into effect by July 2021.  

AEPMA is seeking a formal response from Qld Health to industry to provide information and assurances relating to AMR legislation.  Biosecurity Queensland (DAF) red imported fire ants (RIFA) program continues to be a topic for SEQ pest managers.  

The RIFA program has commenced a pilot program on the Gold Coast to involve home owners in monitoring as well as treatment.  There are concerns that this and other actions will undermine the current requirement for online training that supports treatment by pest managers, or at least trained property owners/developers. Nevertheless AEPMA continues to encourage members to participate in RIFA control activities. 

National AEPMA update at the meeting highlighted the ongoing focus on training and licencing, and the plan to regularly review & update codes of practice. 

The Next Qld Branch meeting will be a breakfast meeting at National office at 0730 on Wednesday 28/4/21. All are welcome. Please RSVP to info@aepma.com.au 

AEPMA Timber Pest Paperwork

The first release of the AEPMA timber pest paperwork is in the form of MicroSoft Word documents and includes inspection services agreements, reports and associated forms for both prior to purchase inspections and building owner (maintenance) inspections.

An important objective of the paperwork is to ensure that the inspector and their client have a common understanding and expectation of the service to be delivered before delivery of the service actually starts.

Often client complaints received by inspector’s result from the use of flimsy report formats or a misunderstanding or misinterpretation of the inspection findings recorded in the report. Another key aim of the paperwork is to improve the overall quality of reports whereby minimising complaints that arise from consumer expectations not being met.

The prior to purchase timber pest paperwork references the updated AEPMA Code of Practice, For Prior to Purchase Timber Pest Inspections, 4th Edition 2021. The purpose of the inspection report is to assist the client to identify and understand any timber pest issues observed at the time of inspection. Where evidence of active (live) termites of economic significance is found, in addition to the inspection report, a written termite management proposal will also need to be delivered to the client.

The building owner (maintenance) timber pest paperwork references the AEPMA, Industry Code of Best Practice for Termite Management”, 1st Edition, 1st November 2017. As all properties on mainland Australia require ongoing termite management, a standard timber pest inspection report is carried out with a view of determining appropriate termite management options for the property.

To help further protect the interests of all parties, in the event of a dispute, the paperwork has a Dispute Resolution procedure. The procedure only applies to AEPMA members who are also Code of Practice signatories and their clients.

The Driver/Purpose for this paperwork:
With all the various versions of Timber Pest Reporting paperwork out there, along with the current App based reporting systems under development, and the situation whereby many of the existing templates are based on the relevant Australian Standards, a few of us at AEPMA thought it beneficial to create and offer new versions that reference the AEPMA Codes of Practice, which benchmark current industry best practice, in contrast to acceptable minimal standard. 

The Scope
AEPMA are pleased to announce the launch of a new resource for the timber pest industry in the form of Timber Pest Reporting paperwork templates.   

There are two ‘suites’ of report templates with 6 templates in each suite.  The docs in the two suites are very similar except for the purpose, ie -  

1. Dedicated Pre-Purchase Inspection Templates for professional Timber Pest Inspectors/Managers 
2. Dedicated Timber Pest Inspection Templates for ‘Building-Owners’ and others 

The Reference or Criteria 

As mentioned previously, the templates reference (are aligned to) the two relevant AEPMA ‘Best Practice’ Codes (latest versions) respectively, and include all the formats needed both in the field and in the office.  The paperwork is the result of collaboration between AEPMA and RSA (Report Systems Australia) and is intended as a ‘default’ timber pest reporting docs that are available to both members and non-members for an annual fee (AEPMA members receive a discount over non-members).
Some other important points:

• The docs are interactive (you populate/insert the data on your computer, tablet, phone, etc)
• You can download any or all of the docs onto your computer or business server and access them anytime as needed  
• When you download them, you can insert your company logo and other company specific info onto each doc
• There are pre-formatted clauses/paragraphs regarding termite conducive conditions, inspection limitations, etc that can be inserted into your docs from a ‘Statement Library’ 

NOTE:  The documents are based on and look like the existing RSA formats on first glance,  However, there are many differences in the layout, headings and wording.

Major milestone for free pest industry app

Pest industry insurance specialist Rapid Solutions achieved a major milestone last week - reaching 1,000 downloads of its free report writing app Rapid Inspect.

The popular app was updated in January with a range of new features and is free for all in the industry at this stage, though will always be free for Rapid Solutions clients. 

Rapid Inspect helps its users to create customer friendly, complete and compliant pest and building reports that meet Australian Standards. The app guides them throughout a site inspection, in ensuring adequate recommendations are made and all relevant limitations are noted within the report. It also allows unlimited on-the-job photo uploads. 

Available for both Android and Apple phones and tablets, the app’s new functionality includes:

• Inspect mode - take photos and upload them immediately to a report
• Sketch function - draw site maps and diagrams
• Improved usability - for easier navigation
• Offline capability - keep reporting even if you’re out of mobile service
• Branded reports - resulting reports feature users’ business branding

Further, Rapid Solutions has now released instructional videos to assist new users in accessing Rapid Inspect and creating reports within the app. In addition, its technical officer Robert Prosser provides one on one phone and email support during business hours to answer any questions.
Rapid Solutions CEO Belinda Smith says, “We’ve invested heavily in the Rapid Inspect app development and will continue to do so. We see it as key to protecting our clients from claims and complaints, and to lifting the bar on reporting in the pest and building industry.”
Visit www.rapidsolutions.com.au for more information on the industry expert’s insurance offerings and Rapid Inspect. 

Nexon Transforms Flick's Digital Infrastructure In Record Time Following Contract Win

Flick Chief Executive Officer Jussi Ylinen said the partnership with Nexon was part of a strategic decision to provide their full network in Australia and New Zealand with a cloud-based service that was robust and evolvable.

“It’s been an exciting year of change for Flick, with major acquisitions and growth plans in progress, and the cloud first strategy provided by Nexon was exactly what we were looking for to increase scale,” Mr Ylinen said.

“We have continued to innovate and stay at the forefront of the industry, digitalising pest control. Our SMART digital pest control uses technology that allows for large scale remote monitoring and management. Upon detection the technology instantly reacts, records and reports”.

Read more here 

Sundew Joins the Fight against Red Imported Fire Ants and Yellow Crazy Ants

To help provide additional tools for the management of Red Imported Fire Ants and Yellow Crazy Ants, Sundew Solutions is proud to announce that SAS PRO fipronil ant granules is now APVMA approved for these tramp ants.

“Following extensive research and product development in the field in South East Queensland over the past 4 years, registration was approved on the 19th of January 2021 for SAS PRO,” said David Priddy, C.E.O. of Sundew Solutions.

“SAS PRO is a non-scheduled poison with an excellent safety profile for end users and the environment due to its targeted application.  SAS PRO does not require mixing or specialised application equipment to apply treatments.  The addition of Red imported fire ant and Yellow crazy ant to SAS PRO will be valuable to users treating these invasive pests.”

Since its APVMA approval in December 2012, SAS PRO has had a long history of effective treatment of tramp ant species both locally and overseas by Government officicals, professional pest controllers, turf care professionals and consumer home gardeners.

“With all that is going on in the world at the moment its pleasing to be able to state that SAS PRO is made in Australia by a family owned 100% Australian business.” 

“We’re not sitting idle with just the SAS PRO and AttractANT PRO Ant Bait Gel being approved for treating these tramp ants, we have several other exciting solutions we are researching in the fight against these ecosystem damaging invasive ants.  Watch this space,” stated David.

Grow your business with help from the JobMaker Hiring Credit

Businesses that are creating new positions and employing young Australians may be eligible for a new wage subsidy called the JobMaker Hiring Credit, paid by the ATO.

Employers that are increasing both their headcount and payroll can receive up to $10,400 per year for each new job they fill with an eligible employee aged 16 to 29 years, and $5,200 for each eligible employee aged 30 to 35 years.

To be eligible new employees must:

• be 16 to 35 years old
• commence employment between 7 October 2020 and 6 October 2021
• work or be paid for an average of at least 20 paid hours per week during the reporting period, and
• have received the JobSeeker Payment, Parenting Payment or Youth Allowance (except if they are receiving the allowance because they are undertaking full-time study or are a new apprentice) for at least 28 consecutive days (or 2 fortnights) in the 84 days (or 6 fortnights) prior to starting employment.  

Deputy Commissioner James O’Halloran said that employers do not need to satisfy a turnover test for their business and the three-step process to access the credit is straightforward.

“The first step for a business is to register. From here, the second step is to nominate their new employees and the third is to make a claim.  

“I also encourage employers who need advice to contact their tax or BAS agent, or check out the resources available on our website,” said Mr O’Halloran.

To find out more go to www.ato.gov.au/jobmakerhiringcredit. 

You can also use the JobMaker Hiring Credit payment estimator to calculate the payment you could receive.

For residents in the Central Coast and Hunter region, there's been a spike in the number of German Cockroaches recently.

So, what's behind this creepy crawly boom and how can we get rid of them?

ABC Newcastle's Paul Turton spoke to AEPMA member Keith Farrow, a pest industry trainer and consultant with decades of experience,

https://www.abc.net.au/radio/newcastle/programs/drive/how-to-get-rid-of-german-cockroaches/13122986

As a mouse invasion spreads through New South Wales and Queensland, researchers are investing in a natural hero … the humble barn owl.

South Australia's Yorke Peninsula has been a popular testing ground for the hypothesis that barn owls, which are found across Australia, could be good pest controllers

Read more here  - Credit ABC News

Hopping mad ferals over the hump.

The Queensland Country Life front page headline 'Pestilence' summed it up - the destruction posed by cats, fall armyworm, and grasshoppers were all in the limelight, and a story on the control of rabbits followed later in the week.

Opinion is divided on the true extent of the damage feral and domestic cats have on Australia's native wildlife, but most agree billions of small animals die in the jaws of cats every year, and that 100 species are "near threatened".

So great is the concern that the federal government has a parliamentary inquiry into their impact on the boil.

Read more here - Credit Cowra Guardian 

SAVE THE DATE!!

• AEPMA Conference Pesticon 2021 22nd - 24th September 2021
• Victoria Branch Meeting 26th March @ 2pm (Essendon Bowls Club)
•  QLD Branch Meeting 28th April 2021 @ 7.30am AEPMA National Office 
   

AEPMA welcomes any contributions or suggestions for articles that you feel are relevant to the industry. Simply forward to info@aepma.com.au.

Or do you have something to say about an article you’ve read in the Newsletter? Why not leave your feedback on our Facebook page.