Talks have started for a new biodiscovery bill in WA, aimed at helping Indigenous people claim the rights to their own products. 

Consultation for Western Australia’s new Biodiscovery bill has begun in Broome, including a proposed legislative change that would regulate the use of genetic material sourced from native plants and animals.

The plan is to give power to traditional owner groups to grant access to the products.

WA is home to eight out of Australia’s 15 biodiversity hotspots, and makes up 10 per cent of the world’s biodiversity.

The bill is based on the Nagoya Protocol -  an international agreement on access to genetic resources and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits. A central part of the scheme is to hand back power to Indigenous people when it comes to sharing natural resources.

WA’s Minister for Science Roger Cook says negotiating the bill will be a “careful” process.

“We need to actually form a balance between making sure that we can regulate the exploitation of that knowledge, but also making sure that people can benefit from it,” he said. 

“We know that traditional owners have a vast level of knowledge about the biodiversity in their regions, and we know that science can unlock even more value in terms of that.”