The Department of Primary Industries and Regions SA (PIRSA) is reminding those travelling to and around South Australia for the AFL’s Gather Round to leave restricted produce behind.
With thousands of people from around Australia expected to flock to the state for the four-day festival of footy, PIRSA will have an increased presence at the border between South Australia and Victoria leading up to the event.
“We welcome everyone to our state for the AFL Gather Round and we want everyone to have a great time,” Incident Controller of the Fruit Fly Emergency Response, Jason Size, said.
“All visitors to South Australia should ensure they are aware of what fresh produce is prohibited from being brought into the state and into the Riverland before they leave home. No new Queensland fruit fly outbreaks were declared in the Riverland for the last two months and we want to keep it that way.
“However, with the increase in travellers passing through the Riverland, it is important to remain vigilant, especially with an influx of visitors expected from interstate.
“We’ll have a random roadblock, with quarantine officers checking vehicles for restricted host produce.
“Officers can issue $417 fines to travellers caught with restricted fruit or vegetables at the border. Before you reach the border eat any restricted fresh produce, or put it in one of the PIRSA quarantine bins located on the highways.
“The easiest way to avoid a fine is to leave the produce at home. I encourage you to shop local when travelling and be aware that you cannot take restricted produce into SA, or into the Riverland, even with a receipt.
“If you are travelling around the state for the football, consider preparing your home-grown restricted produce first using one of the recipes from our website, so it’s safe to share.”
Visit fruitfly.sa.gov.au/restricted-produce for more information on restricted produce.
Mr Size also encouraged South Aussies to do their part during this busy period by helping friends and family heading up to the footy to understand how to stop the spread of fruit fly in South Australia.
“If you have friends and family travelling to South Australia for Gather Round, please play your part and tell them about the fruit fly restrictions heading into our state,” Mr Size said.
“SA is currently battling several fruit fly outbreaks. We want to do everything possible to minimise the impact of these outbreaks and bring them to an end.
“We appreciate all the work that residents across the state are doing to keep South Australia fruit fly free, and during this busy period, it is vital that we all continue to do our part.”
Detections and sterile fly releases
For the 12-week period from 6 January to 30 March 2025, this is how many Riverland outbreak areas that had Queensland fruit fly detections (as of 7 April 2025):
- No flies were detected in 21 of the 56 outbreak areas.
- Flies were detected in 35 of the 56 outbreak areas.
PIRSA will release sterile flies at the following locations until 12 May 2025:
- Barmera
- Berri
- Bookpurnong
- Cobdogla
- Glossop
- Gurra Gurra
- Holder
- Loveday
- Loxton North A
- Lyrup
- Monash, Monash North
- Murtho C, D, E, F
- Overland Corner
- Pike River, Pike River West
- Taylorville
- Winkie
Visit fruitfly.sa.gov.au/sit for more information.
Outbreak end dates
The end dates for all outbreaks are as follows:
- Riverland: 25 November 2025
- Ceduna: 5 November 2025
- Glynde: 7 November 2025
- Salisbury North: 5 November 2025
