Dairy Industry Digests Plan to Consolidate Governance

A report released on Wednesday recommends the creation of a single national organisation to oversee dairy industry policy, advocacy, marketing, and research and development

The proposal first emerged during consultation for the Australian Dairy Plan, which set out to chart a five-year goal for the industry.

The Joint Transition Team (JTT), which was formed as part of this work, authored the report.

Stakeholders said they were pleased by the prospect of the industry working collaboratively however, some raised concerns about the new proposal.

Independent chair of the Australian Dairy Plan, John Brumby, described the proposal as "a sensible" option although also said it was "a model and all of the detail is not filled in".

"There will be a significant process of consultation with farmers, with dairy businesses, with others with a stake in the industry before we put all of the detail around this," he said.

"We've got a model, we've put it out there, we're briefing key groups, we'll get feedback on it.

"Some of it will be positive, some will be negative, but from that feedback we'll endeavour to translate that into a structure that's workable."

Those leading the project expect this "workable" structure to be put to a vote mid-year.

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