Australian Dairy Industry Council

• After extensive lobbying,the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement was ratified in December 2015.
• We successfully lobbied for the Seasonal Worker Programme to expand to the dairy industry, increasing our access to overseas workers to fill workforce shortages.
• We have provided leadership on policies and frameworks to create a strong culture of wellbeing on-farm and developed greater linkages with health organisations who support dairy farmers.
• Released the 2015 progress report of the Australian Dairy Industry Sustainability Framework, measuring the industry’s performance against 11 targets and 29 measures, and under three themes: enhancing livelihoods, improving wellbeing and reducing environmental impact.
• The success of the Sustainability Framework was highlighted when the Australian Dairy Industry Council won the 2016 Organisation Leadership Award from the United Nations Association of Australia.
  We initiated consultation with farmers, vets, and processors to begin the phase-out of routine calving induction, and implemented a revised policy.
• Advocated strongly to amend the Dairy Produce Act 1986 to remove the requirement for the dairy industry to hold a dairy levy poll every five years; the legislation passed in March 2016.
• Develop a voluntary industry wide code of best practice on contractual arrangements with farmers. 

Read more in the ADF Annual Review 2015-16.

For more information about the ADIC, click here.