Myrtle rust has been on Australian shores since 2010 and has consistently outpaced our ability to contain it. The 2026 picture is one of pragmatic acceptance combined with focused intervention on the species and ecosystems where the impact is most catastrophic.

The pathogen is now widely distributed across the eastern seaboard, into northern Australia, and across most of Tasmania. Eradication has been off the table for years. Containment in the original sense is also no longer viable. What’s changed in the past five years is the quality of the prioritisation work that determines where management dollars actually go.

The species at greatest extinction risk continue to be a small set of Myrtaceae that show essentially no resistance: native guava (Rhodomyrtus psidioides), some scrub turpentine populations, and several rainforest understory species. For these, ex-situ conservation (seed banking, living collections, attempted breeding programs) is now the primary lever.

In-situ management has had genuine success in specific locations where targeted fungicide application is viable for high-value individual trees or small populations. The cost is high. The labour requirement is significant. It’s not a strategy that scales to the landscape, but it has bought time for several critically endangered species while ex-situ work continues.

Resistance breeding is the medium-term hope for some species. Several research programs are now far enough along to have produced apparently resistant lineages of certain native species. Whether this translates to wild population restoration in a meaningful timeframe remains uncertain, but the work is happening.

Biosecurity-wise, the lesson from myrtle rust continues to inform the response to other emerging pathogens. The pattern of “you’ll know about it before you can stop it” has been depressingly consistent across multiple incursions in the past decade. Investment in earlier detection, faster response, and pre-border interception remains the only set of levers that have a chance of preventing the next equivalent disaster.

For private landholders and conservation managers in 2026, the practical advice is mature. Know which species on your land are most at risk. Be alert for symptoms. Report new outbreaks. Consider whether you have specimens that could contribute to ex-situ collections. The chance to stop myrtle rust at the landscape level is gone. The chance to slow its impact on individual species and sites is still there.