General safety
Enjoy your visit, keep yourself safe and help look after our parks by following these tips.
Stay informed
- Regularly check:
- Always read and heed on-site information and obey signs.
Plan ahead
- Check what facilities are provided and which activities are permitted in the park and forest you are planning to visit.
- Ensure your vehicles, boats and equipment are safe and in good working order.
- Always let someone know where you are going and when you expect to return.
Visit safely
For all emergencies call Triple Zero (000)
- We highly recommend you visit the Triple Zero website before visiting a national park or forest.
- Download the Triple Zero emergency app—to help identify your location.
- Important: if there is no mobile coverage on any network, you will not be able to reach the Emergency Call Service via a mobile phone.
- Mobile phone coverage is not available in many of our parks and forests.
- Consider taking a satellite phone, personal locator beacon (PLB) or another form of communication into areas that do not have good mobile phone coverage.
- Be COVID-19 safe—read the important updates.
- Take a first-aid kit and know how to use it.
- Walk with care—know your limits and choose suitable walks.
- Bring sufficient food and drinking water.
- Treat all water that you collect in the park.
- Be sun-smart.
- Be wildlife aware—never feed, handle or play with wildlife.
- Use personal insect repellent to protect yourself from scratches and insect bites and stings.
Visit softly
- Remember smoking restrictions now apply!
- Take your rubbish with you.
- The use of chainsaws and firearms is not permitted.
- Always camp with care—look after yourself and the environment.
- Respect historic sites and First Nations peoples' culture—rock art and other culturally significant remnants within parks and forests are easily damaged and are irreplaceable.
Be pest-free
Pest plants and animals can hitch a ride on your footwear, clothing, boats, vehicles and gear.
Invisible pathogens, such as viruses, bacteria and fungi, are transported in soil and mud and can kill native plants and animals. Our national parks, including our precious Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area islands, need your help to remain pest-free.
What to do
Before you visit, please check that your boat (if visiting an island), vehicles, clothing, footwear and gear are free of soil, seeds, parts of plants, eggs, insects, spiders, lizards, toads, rats and mice.
- Be sure to:
- Unpack your camping gear and equipment and check it carefully as pests love to hide in stored camping gear.
- Clean soil from vehicles, bicycles, footwear and gear as invisible killers such as viruses, bacteria and fungi are carried in soil.
- Check pockets, cuffs and velcro for seeds.
While you are in the park (or on an island), remove soil, weeds, seeds and pests from your boat, vehicle, gear and clothes before moving to a new site. Wrap seeds and plant material, and place them in your rubbish.
Use pathogen control station where provided.
Check your bait—don’t use imported, raw prawns from the supermarket. They may carry diseases which can get into our waterways and harm our prawn populations.
Everyone in Queensland has a general biosecurity obligation to minimise the biosecurity risk posed by their activities. This includes the risk of introducing and spreading weeds and pests to national parks and island national parks.
Read more about how to be pest-free when you visit the Great Barrier Reef islands.