Tell Coolamon Shire Council to Find Out What It's Using.
Coolamon Shire Council confirmed it engages a certified contractor for reactive rodent control — and confirmed SGARs are in use. But when asked which products, council told us it was unable to say. A council that cannot identify the chemicals its contractor is applying to public property does not have adequate oversight of its rodent management. Send a direct email to the General Manager asking them to find out, disclose, and transition away from SGARs.
— a contractor oversight failure on chemicals deployed in public spaces.
SGARs in use — and council doesn't know which ones. That's a transparency failure.
Secondary poisoning of native wildlife
SGARs accumulate in the tissue of poisoned rodents and remain lethal for days. Native predators — powerful owls, wedge-tailed eagles, raptors, quolls, and antechinus — are exposed when they eat affected animals. Research led by Prof. Raylene Cooke and Assoc. Prof. John White at Deakin University has documented SGAR toxins in the livers of native predators across Australia.
Active regulatory review by the APVMA
The Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority is currently reviewing SGAR registrations following evidence of widespread non-target harm. Councils continuing to use these products risk being on the wrong side of an emerging regulatory shift.
Effective alternatives already exist
Non-anticoagulant products such as Selontra (colecalciferol) provide effective rodent control with no secondary poisoning risk to native wildlife. Coolamon Shire Council should first establish what products its contractor is using — then require a transition to wildlife-friendly alternatives as a condition of any future contract.