Dairy Levy Review

Dairy Australia invests the service levy to provide services to benefit dairy farmers and protect their right to farm: research and innovation, supporting farm business management, responding to events such as drought or COVID-19, developing tools to adapt to the environment and address climate, supporting on-farm employment needs, marketing of dairy products and commitment to sustainability, policy research, industry insights, and delivering international market programs.

Find out more about Dairy Poll 2022

Visit the Dairy Poll to stay regularly informed on the levy poll options, initiatives for each levy poll option, and Dairy Australia’s investment areas.

How is the Dairy Service Levy allocated to services?

Approximately $55-60M is invested each year to deliver these services, which includes 50% from levy funds, 35% Government and 14% external contributions/grants, other 1%.

To maintain the services below, the industry has had to regularly dip into levy reserves, which are declining. Given current and predicted future levels of milk production, the Levy Poll Advisory Committee (LPAC) has considered the viability of this strategy if this level of innovation and services is to be maintained over the next five years.

Dairy Australia priorities	On-farm examples of industry services	Approx $
1. More resilient farm businesses	Increase farmer skills in business planning, risk management and finances – i.e. Our Farm Our Plan, DairyBase.	$7-8m (13%)
2. Attract and develop great people for dairy	Support farm businesses to attract, develop and retain good people – i.e. ESKI, People in Dairy website, DairyLearn, Dairy Passport	$6-7m (11%)
3. Strong community support for dairy	Promote dairy to consumers and the broader community – i.e. Dairy Matters campaign, schools program, health and nutrition policy support, sustainability.	$8-9m (14%)
4. Thrive in a changing environment	Provide resources to help manage climate and environmental challenges on-farm – i.e. Smarter Irrigation for Profit, C4 Milk, DairyHigh2.	$4-5m (7%)
5. Success in domestic and overseas markets	Build relationships and promote Australian dairy in overseas markets – i.e trade programs, Situation and Outlook.	$7-8m (12%)
6. Technology and data-enabled dairy farms	Research in genetics of pasture and cattle – i.e. DairyBio, DataGene, Dairy Feedbase, Forage Value Index	$18-19m (31%)
7. Innovative and responsive organisation	Driving an innovative organisation with talented people, focused on delivery value for farmers.	$7-8m (12%)
Total		$57-62m

*The above $ allocation is broadly representative of the 2020-21 year and includes delivery of services in the regions via the Regional Development Programs Murray Dairy, GippsDairy, WestVic Dairy, Western Dairy, DairyTas, DairySA, SubTropical Dairy and Dairy NSW (i.e., funded by the levy, through Dairy Australia).

The LPAC comprised 15 people – an independent chair, 12 dairy farmers (three of whom are from industry organisations) and two representatives from industry organisations. They met over six months (April to September) with two members resigning in September when the poll options were announced.