Gap analysis for risk assessment and decision making in the biosecurity system

The research programme “He Tangata, He Taiao, He Ōhanga (Strategic Outcome 3,Bioheritage National Science Programme) aims to incorporate information from a holistic set of values into a biosecurity risk assessment framework.

This study is the first part of that research programme, aiming to describe the current state of decision making based on risk assessment in the biosecurity system.

Twenty six decision makers who work in biosecurity and use risk assessments to support their decisions were interviewed for this study. The interviews were analysed using thematic analysis methodology.

Three main themes were identified: – Structured frameworks are not widely used for biosecurity decision making – A wide range of values are considered in making decisions, although values aren’t considered in a consistent or systematic way – Trust is central to participants’ views on risk assessment quality and usefulness

Overall, this study does support the need to incorporate information from a holistic set of values into a new biosecurity risk assessment framework, to help inform better biosecurity decisions.

This study also suggests that such a framework, even if available, may not be used.

In determining whether any new framework is used, how the framework is developed may be as important as the content of the framework. In particular, the framework needs to be developed in a way that builds trust between those developing the framework and those using the framework.