Letter from the Chair

Scott Williams, SSF Chair

A lot has been happening in relation to the Framework since my last report. The Framework hosted a Consultative Committee Forum in Melbourne in October. I thought the Forum was very valuable for us as we strive to refine not only what we report, but how we report. I’m grateful to the people from a wide range of organisations – retail, finance, animal welfare, environmental, as well as agricultural – who gave up their day to participate.

The Forum was the first Framework event for our new SSF Board Chair, Angus Gidley-Baird. Angus is the Senior Analyst – Animal Proteins at Rabobank. He has a strong appreciation of sustainability issues across agricultural value chains. I’m very pleased with Angus’s appointment and look forward to working with him over the next few years.

A couple of issues have been top of mind for the Steering Group lately. The first is the question of the scope or boundaries of the SSF. The metrics in the Framework are currently confined to Australia (plus shipping, in the case of live export) and this is where most of the activity associated with sheepmeat occurs. Wool, however, is largely exported in greasy form, so there is significant product transformation overseas. There are huge challenges in collecting data from entities in other countries. Also, Australian wool becomes blended with wools of other countries from an early stage. We think therefore that the SSF will continue to be a report card on the Australian sheep industry for the foreseeable future.

The other topic we have discussed is how we engage with the various stakeholder groups of the SSF. The SSF undoubtedly has its major impact with retailers, clothing labels, banks, governments, and others that make major decisions about the purchase or production of sheep products. However, producers are also very important, and we’ve perhaps not communicated the Framework well enough to those who own it and contribute to it.

Fortunately, next year offers several excellent opportunities to showcase the Framework, including LambEx and the International Wool Textile Organisation Congress, both in Adelaide. We will make the most of those and other events to promote the Framework and the benefits it delivers to the sheep industry.