Regional Services

Dairy Australia has 8 dairy regions in Australia, each with a local team who:

• Deliver industry services directly into regional areas
• Determine regional priorities in consultation with farm businesses, agri-business and regional communities
• Maximise the dairy service levy investment to the farmgate.

Who’s in the regional team?

• A Regional Manager who is the team leader and executive officer to the Board
• Regional Extension Officers who coordinate, develop and deliver extension services
• A Communications Officer who coordinates, develops and delivers communications services
• Project Officer/s who coordinate, develop and deliver special project services (often externally funded)
• Admin/finance who manages the group's admin and finance services.

The size and structure of the team is dependant of the size of the region.

Services

The regions and national office work together to deliver seamless, relevant and timely services to dairy farmers and the industry more broadly. This includes the key functions of:

• Priority setting - Regions consult with local stakeholders such as farmers, agri-business, service providers, government and support services to identify regional issues with the aim of prioritising research development and extension investment at both regional and national levels.
• Program and project development - Regions have a key role in bringing farmer and regional perspectives to the development of industry projects, resources and communications.
• Delivery of services - Regions are the delivery arm for the provision of Dairy Australia services at a local level.
• Extension - Regional Teams coordinate and deliver extension and other services to farmers in each region.
• Communication - regional and national teams align regional communication messages and channels to reduce duplication and enhance impact. Communication specialists in each regional team are linked together through a national communications network which is coordinated centrally.

Regional Boards

Regional Development Programs (RDPs) are incorporated entities overseen by Boards comprising dairy farmers and other skills-based Directors. Each RDP is governed by a separate Constitution. The RDP Boards set strategy and priorities specifically to meet regional needs; provide corporate governance and financial oversight for the organisation; and monitor performance of projects and service delivery. The Boards provide intelligence and identifies needs and priorities which inform Dairy Australia’s planning processes and investment decisions.

An Accord (similar to a Service Level Agreement) is in place between Dairy Australia and each of the RDPs. This agreement outlines how Dairy Australia and the regions work together including services to the regions and linkages back into the national platform.

How are RDPs funded?

Dairy Australia directly funds regional service delivery through the RDP Boards for staffing of regional teams, operations and projects, and industry programs and resources. Regions source additional funds from third parties (external funding) to support relevant regionally unique programs.