Newsletter August 2021

Membership renewals

Renew your membership Support the OIA by renewing now.

Membership renewal notices were emailed out to all members this week.

If you haven't received yours, please check your junk mail folder and then contact secretary@organicindustries.org.au

Please also let us know if you would like to upgrade to be a Foundation member.

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Industry updates

Brisbane bid to host Organic World Congress 2024

Take action now!

Support the Brisbane bid to host the IFOAM World Congress

Sign up your organic organisation as a member of IFOAM International.
You can then vote for the Brisbane bid as part of this year's virtual Organic World Congress in September.

Vote for one of our own, Simone Tully, to become a director of IFOAM. Simone is also Chair of the Brisbane bid team. You can read more about Simone in our June newsletter.

Industry representation

Organic Industry Advisory Group

Our Chair, Dalene Wray, was representing the interests of all certified organic operators on this Ministerial advisory group in meetings during January—June 2021. More information was provided in our June newsletter.

Organic Industry Standards and Certification Council

We have written to OISCC in 2019 and again in June (available here) with suggested reforms to the structure and operation of OISCC.

In May OISCC updated its Terms of Reference, but the substance of our submissions have not yet been addressed.

AgriFutures R&D Strategic Plan

AgriFutures is the Research & Development Corporation with responsibility for organic production systems. This month, our Chair attended their consultation workshop for their R&D Strategic Plan 2022-27. We requested R&D investment in organic agriculture and have also highlighted our industry export strategy.

Windup of the Organic Federation of Australia (OFA)

At a special general meeting of the Organic Federation of Australia (OFA) on the 11th August, attendees agreed to wind up the organisation.

OIA received a small amount of cash from the winding up and is also working with OFA members on the handover of the website, social media, and historical documents.

WA organic farmers take note: Sensitive sites in Western Australia

The WA Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development operates a sensitive sites service to identify the locations of sensitive commercial production systems across Western Australia's agricultural region. Locations are provided in a free online map, and landholders are asked annually or biannually to register interest in having their property included on the map.

This service is designed to assist both sensitive enterprises and nearby landholders to prepare risk assessment and mitigation plans for their activities, to ensure sensitive sites are protected.

https://www.agric.wa.gov.au/grains/sensitive-sites-western-australia

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