The Federal Government has chosen Mickleham north of Melbourne as the location for a new $400 million post-entry quarantine facility.

The facility, announced in the Federal Budget in May, will replace the operations of Australia’s existing post-entry quarantine centres which operate in leased premises in New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia.

The 144 hectare site at 135 Donnybrook Road, Mickleham, was chosen from 25 possible locations.

The centre will be used to hold imported animals and plants in quarantine before release into Australia.

Federal agriculture minister Joe Ludwig said the operations would be well contained and secured, and the facility will be designed to minimise visual and audible impacts on surrounding land users.

The centre will employ around 100 people when fully operational.

It is scheduled to commence operation in 2015, when the long-term leases on the five facilities it will replace begin to expire.

All post-entry quarantine facilities will be transferred to the new facility by 2018.

The total cost of the centre will be $400, which includes $380 of new funding announced in the Federal Budget in May.