Horticulture Australia (HAL) board members voted to transition to a grower owned research and development corporation (RDC), following a meeting on 28 May in Melbourne.
The transition comes in light of consulting firm Acil Allen’s review of HAL, one of the key recommendations of which was the transition from Peak Industry Body (PIB) ownership to a grower-owned corporation.
“Following a series of discussions, we were pleased to reach strong agreement on a united and collaborative approach to move to the next stage towards HAL becoming a grower-owned body,” said HAL chairman Selwyn Snell in a media release.
Consulting firm Acil Allen released its review of HAL on 9 May, with HAL chief executive John Lloyd saying the HAL board would respond to the final report after consulting members.
HAL invests A$100m annually in research, development and marketing across 43 Peak Industry Bodies (PIBs) including Ausveg, Apple & Pear Australia and Citrus Australia. Acil Allen said the transition to a grower-owned RDC would strengthen grower representation within the department body, with a 50:50 split between appointed and elected directors forming an independent board.
