AEPMA

29/10/2026

Someone can be licensed and still not be ready.

That’s not a knock on new techs. A licence says they’re allowed to do the work. It doesn’t say they’ve seen enough houses, enough customers or enough jobs to know what they’re looking at when something odd turns up.

So before you sign someone off, four things worth seeing for yourself.

1. Can they identify what they’re dealing with, not just treat it?
2. Have you watched them do the job, not just talked them through it?
3. Can they explain the risk to people, pets and food on that site?
4. Do they know when to stop and ask?

It goes both ways. An experienced tech who’s stopped learning can be just as much of a worry as a new one sent out too early.

How long before you let a new tech run a job on their own?

28/10/2026

Lincoln from Pestlinc just took out the Kylie Enright Award for Pest Manager of the Year (Micro Division) at the FAOPMA Pest Summit 2026.

18 years in the industry, but newly out on his own.

His advice to other micro business owners: apply, win or not. The process alone will show you where your business actually stands.

Congrats, Lincoln. Well earned 👏

27/10/2026

Last chance to access free rodent management training!

The free offer for AEPMA’s Compliance and Best Practice in Australian Rodent Management course closes on 1 November.

Covering APVMA changes, compliance and practical rodent management, this online course is a useful refresher for you and your team.

Don’t leave it too late — complete your training before the offer closes.

The Australian Environmental Pest Managers Association

26/10/2026

Ten years from now, what’s one thing you think pest managers will no longer be doing? Paperwork, everyday tasks or old ways of working, what do you think will change?

22/10/2026

What's your rule for roof voids this summer?

It’s the part of the job where the danger isn’t the pest. Heat, confined space, bad footing, and live wiring you can’t see behind the insulation.

Print out this checklist and and stick it in the ute or office where everyone can see it.

20/10/2026

"Bula from Fiji." Mohammed Zakariya Umar, Executive Director of Flick Hygiene Fiji, flew in for FAOPMA Pest Summit 2026, and he took two things home: sustainable practices and new tech.

Mohammed's taking what he learned here straight back to his team in Fiji, with the goal of lifting the standard for the whole South Pacific region.

That's the real value of getting operators in a room together.

19/10/2026

There’s more talk about non-chemical pest management, but how much has changed on site?

15/10/2026

You found the problem. You recommended the treatment. They said no.

That’s their call. But six months later when the damage turns up worse, nobody remembers being told.

This is where owners get caught out. Not on the work you did, on the work you recommended and didn’t get to do.

So put it in writing. The recommendation goes in the report. Note that they declined it and the date. Write down what you told them could happen. Keep the email, text or quote where they said no.

Then make it the same process on every job, for every tech. One person doing it well doesn’t protect the business.

Takes two minutes at the end of a job.

What’s your system for this? Does it go in the report, or do you handle it another way?

12/10/2026

What’s the most used piece of equipment in your kit?

09/10/2026

A council has just given itself the power to make homeowners deal with a wasp nest.

Yarra City Council has updated its Community Local Law so officers can direct a property owner to remove a dangerous European wasp nest. Until now councils couldn't enforce removal at all, even when a nest was clearly a risk and nobody was doing anything about it.

Owners are expected to organise treatment or removal as soon as reasonably practicable. Officers will work with residents first, but ignore a lawful direction and an infringement notice can follow.

For operators in the Yarra City Council area, that's work heading your way. A homeowner who was putting it off now has a reason to pick up the phone.

This is one council. But if changes like this are happening in Yarra, they could start popping up elsewhere too.

Full story in the September AEPMA Magazine.

What's the worst nest you've been called to, and where was it hiding?