Assessing the impact of behaviour change intervention strategies on the biosecurity knowledge, attitudes, and practices of pig producers in New South Wales, Australia

Biosecurity legislation in New South Wales is based upon a ‘shared responsibility’ framework with all stakeholders playing a role in protecting the pig industry. Government and industry bodies face challenges in supporting pig owners to adopt protective biosecurity measures, particularly within the industry's smallholder (non-commercial) sector. This study is part of a government-university project to improve biosecurity management planning and emergency animal disease preparedness among pig owners and producers in New South Wales. An evaluation of the impact of behaviour change strategies co-designed by industry and government to support smallholder pig producers/owners in strengthening biosecurity practices was conducted, using a baseline (186 respondents) and endline (77 respondents) comparison, with interviews adding depth of understanding about the impact of the interventions. Responses indicated a low level of exposure to the targeted engagement strategies overall, suggesting that distribution pathways used were ineffective in reaching the target audience. Those who reported exposure to the interventions were more likely (P < 0.05) to report a recent improvement on biosecurity practices than those who not exposed. Despite this positive impact, there was no significant difference between biosecurity practices of survey populations between the two surveys. Overall, the level of biosecurity implementation was low. The risk posed by poor biosecurity uptake, particularly by the non-commercial sectors, remains significant. Future engagement strategy design must use routes to engage all sectors of the industry more effectively – for example, by addressing interests, identities, and values, followed by comprehensive evaluation to achieve the most effective distribution of interventions within the non-commercial sector.