WA Biodiscovery Bill: Phase 1 consultation paper for Aboriginal people

Biodiscovery is research into things like native plants and animals to take parts that can be used to make new things. WA has many useful native plants and animals. Aboriginal people often hold traditional knowledge about these and their uses. Sometimes Aboriginal people share this traditional knowledge with researchers and the researchers can use the results of biodiscovery to earn money. For example, using parts of native plants to make new medicines that can be sold. Biodiscovery needs to happen in a way that recognises and protects Western Australian plants and animals and the traditional knowledge of Aboriginal people.

The Bill will follow the Nagoya Protocol. The Nagoya Protocol is an international agreement about how benefits from biodiscovery on native plants and animals should be shared in a fair way.

The main parts of the Nagoya Protocol are below.

• Authorised access – Researchers must have the right approval to access and take native plants and animals. In some cases, Aboriginal people will be the ones to allow access.
• Mutually agreed terms – Researchers and the WA Government will need to sign an agreement about how native plants and animals can be collected and used. Researchers and Aboriginal people will need to agree on how any traditional knowledge that has been shared with the researcher can be used. Researchers must follow the agreements that they will have with the WA Government and with Aboriginal people.
• Benefit sharing – Any benefits that come from using native plants and animals must be shared in a fair way. Benefits might be money or other things like education and training. These benefits will be in the agreement that says how native plants and animals, and traditional knowledge if it has been shared, can be used.
• Recognition and protection of traditional knowledge – Researchers must acknowledge if any traditional knowledge has been shared with them. If researchers use this traditional knowledge and their research makes money, they must share the benefits with the Traditional Knowledge Custodians.

Researchers will need to do certain things before they can collect a native plant or animal to use it for biodiscovery.

1. If researchers want to collect a native plant or animal and use their research to make money, they must get a WA Biodiscovery Certificate first. The researcher must show that they have permission to collect the native plant or animal to get a WA Biodiscovery Certificate. The researcher must also say if any traditional knowledge has been shared with them about the native plant or animal.
2. If the researcher thinks that their research will make money and traditional knowledge has been shared with them, they must agree to share the benefits with the holders of the traditional knowledge. First, the researcher and holders of the traditional knowledge will need to agree on what these benefits are. After that, these benefits will then need to be put in detail in an agreement. These agreements are called benefit sharing agreements.
3. The researcher will need to prove to the WA Government that they have a benefit sharing agreement with the holders of the traditional knowledge. The Government won’t find out what the benefits are though as this is between the researcher and the holders of the traditional knowledge.
4. Researchers won’t need to agree on benefits if they don’t think that their research will make money. But they must still tell the Government if traditional knowledge has been shared with them about the native plants and animals that they want to use.
5. If a researcher first says that their research won’t make money but changes their mind and the research will make money, they will need to come back and do steps 1 and 2. They will need to agree to benefits with the holders of any traditional knowledge that has been shared with them and that they have used in the research.