Phytophthora dieback caused by Phytophthora cinnamomi is one of the most devastating plant diseases in Australia. It is a major threat to Australian biodiversity and the ecological impacts of the disease are permanent and irreversible, impacting numerous threatened and keystone species. Early detection and mapping are the key to managing the disease effectively. Current diagnostic and mapping methods are costly, time consuming and require significant manual work. A pilot test conducted by NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service and Tate Animal Training Enterprises in 2022 demonstrated the potential to use the detection dogs as a method of detecting P. cinnamomi. A Dieback Detector Dogs consortium, led by the WA Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions, has secured funding from a Saving Native Species grant and is expanding this work nationally. The consortium’s main aims are to determine the efficacy of dieback detection dogs under laboratory and field conditions and develop national guidelines for the use of detection dogs in Australia. The laboratory efficacy studies, and field studies were conducted in WA and NSW to evaluate the applicability of detection dogs in screening laboratory soil samples, mapping dieback occurrence, assessing threatened species translocation sites, and screening nursery stock. The results obtained so far indicated that the two detector dogs, Alice and Echo, have a promising sensitivity in detecting P. cinnamomi. Further work will be done to incorporate the use of detection dogs in on-ground disease detection to complement other methods and improve dieback management.