Directors

At 30 June 2020, the Board comprised nine directors.

The Board has combined expertise in business management; commodity production, processing and marketing; economics; finance; management and conservation of natural resources; environmental and ecological matters; research and development (R&D) administration; science and technology; technology transfer; communication; and public administration.

Directors at 30 June 2020

John Woods

BAppSc, MAICD

Appointed as Director (Non-Executive): 8 March 2012 to 4 November 2014; reappointed 4 November 2014 to 30 September 2017

Appointed as Chair (Non-Executive): 1 October 2016 to 30 September 2019; reappointed 1 October 2019 to 30 September 2022

Member: Remuneration, People and Performance Committee

John is partner and manager of a broadacre agribusiness based in northern NSW and southern Queensland. He has responsibility for all business aspects, including financial management, production and crop husbandry, marketing and logistics, resource management and work health and safety. He is also Chair of R&R Hire Services in Queensland.

John has a history of working collaboratively with a range of public and private organisations in the development, extension and adoption of new technology.

He was Chairman of the Science Advisory Group of the National Agricultural Monitoring System (NAMS) between 2005 and 2009, and a member of the NAMS Advisory Reference Group and Steering Committee. He also spent six years, to 2005, on the National Rural Advisory Council.

John was Chairman of ChemCert Training Queensland from 2002 to 2004 and has held positions with Cotton Australia and Farmsafe Queensland.

Roseanne Healy

BA(Econ), MBA, MBR(Com), GAICD

Appointed as Director (Non-executive): 4 November 2014 to 30 September 2017; reappointed to 30 September 2020

Appointed as Deputy Chair: 6 December 2017 to 30 September 2020.

Member: Audit and Risk Committee (Chair from 6 December 2017), Remuneration Committee

Roseanne has over 20 years corporate experience on mergers, acquisitions, capital raising, and turnarounds informed by investment banking, venture capital and start up roles over the course of her career.

Roseanne started in corporate advisory and investment banking as an economics and market analyst for ASX 100 and 200 companies in the resources, retail and automotive sectors.

As a tribunal member for the Office of Consumer and Business Affairs and CEO of SA Great, she influenced South Australia’s economic credentials for investment attraction, spanning agriculture, aquaculture, food and wine, technology and infrastructure.

Roseanne is currently Managing Director of Corporate Advisory, Enterprise Corporation; Chair of Peninsula Leisure Pty Ltd and Dairysafe and non-executive director of Dairy Australia Ltd, Airborne Research Australia Ltd, Cash Flow Manager Pty Ltd, GP Partners Ltd and Nyamba Buru Yawuru Ltd.

Roseanne was previously a non-executive director of the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation (AgriFutures Australia).

Dianne Angus

BSc (Ed), BSc (Hons), M Biotech, Grad Dip IP, MAICD

Appointed as Director (Non-Executive): 1 October 2017 to 30 September 2020

Member: Audit and Risk Committee

Dianne has worked as an executive in the biotechnology industry for over 20 years. She held a senior management position in a joint venture alliance between Florigene (Australia) and Suntory (Japan) to yield and commercialise floricultural products, was Chief Operating Officer of Prana Biotechnology, a NASDAQ listed company that develops novel neurological agents, and is non-executive director of ASX-listed companies Neuren Pharmaceuticals Ltd and Imagion Biosystems Ltd.

Dianne’s career is marked by her passion to build competitive product portfolios, through investment in innovative research to end-stage product commercialisation. She has created global partnerships between industry and academia to yield novel and competitive medical, pharmaceutical and agricultural product candidates.

Dianne has negotiated many commercial licenses and product development agreements, with entities ranging from large pharmaceutical and agrichemical companies to global research institutes. She has expertise in business development, regulation, capital raising, intellectual property and finance, together with strong capabilities in corporate governance and compliance.

Chris Blanchard

BAppSci (Hons 1), PhD

Appointed as Director (Non-Executive): 1 October 2017 to 30 September 2020

Chris has had a long association with the grains industry and GRDC. He completed a GRDC-funded PhD in plant molecular biology/virology and was a GRDC-sponsored participant in the Australian Rural Leadership Program.

Chris has more than 20 years’ experience leading research projects aimed at increasing the profitability of grain production. Currently, he leads the Australian Research Council Industrial Transformation Centre for Functional Grains, which focuses on research that aims to transform the Australian grains industry and is involved in research aimed at improving outcomes for farmers in developing countries.

Chris has served on industry and academic committees such as the GrainGrowers National Policy Group and the National Committee for the International Year of Pulses. He was Chair of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute Cereal Chemistry Division and is currently a member of the Australian Academy of Sciences National Committee for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. Chris is the current Chair of the Australasian Grain Science Association Council.

Richard Heath

BSc (Hons), GAICD

Appointed as Director (Non-Executive): 1 October 2017 to 30 September 2020

Richard grew up on a family farm on the Liverpool Plains in north-west NSW. He managed the cropping operations of the farm for nearly 20 years, overseeing production of wheat, barley, chickpea, faba beans, canola, sorghum, sunflowers, mung bean and cotton. Richard has been an early adopter of new farming technologies and travelled on a Nuffield scholarship in 2003 to research precision applications of fertiliser.

Richard is the Executive Director of the Australian Farm Institute, an independent agricultural policy research organisation. Prior to this role, Richard was Associate Professor of Agronomy and Farm Management at the University of Sydney, with responsibility for the management of the university’s north-west farms group, including the Plant Breeding Institute at Narrabri.

Richard was a member of the Northern Regional Panel of GRDC from 2005 to 2011 and was a director of Nuffield Australia Farming Scholars from 2011 to 2017. He is currently a member of the external advisory committee of CSIRO Agriculture and Food.

Helen Garnett

PSM, BSc (Hons), PhD, FTSE, FAICD

Appointed as Director (Non-Executive): 4 November 2014 to 30 September 2017; reappointed to 30 September 2020

Member: Audit and Risk Committee, Remuneration Committee (Chair from 5 February 2018)

Helen is an accomplished director and leader, building on an earlier research career, including with industry, in pathogenesis and the development of diagnostics. She was awarded the Public Service Medal (2004) and the Centenary Medal (2000) for scientific and institutional leadership.

Helen is currently Chair of Generator Property Management Corporation, a director of Larrakia Development Corporation, Developing East Arnhem Limited, Energy Consumers Australia and the Crawford Fund. Until recently she was also a director of Sugar Research Australia.

Over the past 25 years Helen has held a wide range of directorships on government entities and ASX-listed companies in the energy, mining, agriculture and education sectors as well as entities involved in regional economic development and including: Chair of the Australian Centre for Plant Functional Genomics Pty Ltd: Chair of the Australian Biosecurity Intelligence Network: a director of the Grape and Wine Research and Development Corporation: a director, the National Centre for Vocational Education Research: a director of Energy Resources of Australia Ltd: Vice Chancellor of Charles Darwin University: and Chief Executive of the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation.

Steve Jefferies

AM, BAgSc, PhD, GAICD

Managing Director

Term: 4 July 2016 to 3 July 2020

Steve had more than 30 years of experience working in the Australian grains industry, mostly in research management, prior to joining GRDC as Managing Director in 2016.

Steve was CEO of Australian Grain Technologies, Australia’s largest and market-leading wheat-breeding company, from its inception in 2002 until June 2016. From 1996 to 2002, Steve was a wheat breeder, barley breeder and senior lecturer at the University of Adelaide. From 1984 to 1996, Steve held positions in research management and ministerial liaison in the South Australian Government.

Steve has also been Chairman of the Australian End Point Royalty Steering Committee, a non-executive director of Birchip Cropping Group and Barley Australia, and a member of the Waite Institute Strategic Leadership Group and the Wheat Quality Classification Council of Wheat Quality Australia.

In June 2016, Steve was appointed Member of the Order of Australia for his significant services to primary industry.

Stephen Powles

BSc, MSc, PhD, FAA, FTSE

Appointed as Director (Non-Executive): 1 October 2017 to 30 September 2020

Member: Audit and Risk Committee (until 9 December 2019).

Stephen has an international reputation as a researcher in herbicide resistance, weeds and crop science. He was awarded the Centenary Medal in 2001 for service to Australian society in plant production and culture.

Originally from a dairy farming region of NSW, Stephen attended Tocal College and Hawkesbury Agricultural College then continued his education in the United States of America and France. He developed and led large research programs at the Waite Research Institute and the University of Western Australia.

Stephen is a fellow of the Australian Academy of Science and the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering. He has interests in a broadacre cropping farm in the Great Southern region of Western Australia.

Stephen has been Managing Director of the Australian Weed Management Cooperative Research Centre, Director of the Australian Herbicide Resistance Initiative, Chair of the Gene Technology Technical Advisory Committee and a board member of the Western Australian No-tillage Farmers Association.

Sharon Starick

BAgSc (Hons), MAICD

Appointed as Director (Non-Executive): 30 November 2018 to 30 September 2020

Member: Audit and Risk Committee (from 9 December 2019).

Since 1993, Sharon and her husband have been producing grain and pork in the Mallee region of South Australia. Her extensive knowledge of sustainable primary production was developed through her own on-farm practices and past participation in Mallee Sustainable Farming and the South Australian No-Till Farmers Association. Through Sharon’s strong interest in policy development and collaboration within Australian agriculture, she currently holds the positions of:

• Chair of Animal Health Australia
• Director of the Regional Investment Corporation
• Chair of Rural Business Support
• Committee member, Murray Plains Farmers

She also has a passion for natural resource management and conservation that is reflected in her past involvement as Chair of the South Australian Murray-Darling Basin Natural Resources Management Board and as a member of South Australia’s Natural Resources Management Council, the Australian Landcare Council and the Community Advisory Committee for the Murray-Darling Basin Ministerial Council. As a past director of Land & Water Australia, Sharon has experience in strategic planning for research and extension. Sharon is a past participant in the Murray-Darling Basin Leadership Program and was awarded the RIRDC Rural Women’s Award for South Australia in 2003.

Board selection

Members of our Board are selected and appointed in accordance with the Primary Industries Research and Development Act 1989 (PIRD Act). Under the Act, the Minister is responsible for the selection and appointment of the Chair of GRDC Board. The Managing Director is selected by the Board and holds office at the corporation’s pleasure.

All other board members are selected by a selection committee, appointed by the Minister under the PIRD Act, in consultation with the industry representative organisation declared under the PIRD Act and other grower organisations. The selection committee is responsible for nominating five to seven candidates to be appointed as directors. Nominations are made to the Minister and formal appointment of directors is made by the Minister.

Committees

At 30 June 2020, the Board had two committees, as described in Table 9. The Board receives formal reports from the committees, and any decisions that the Board makes in relation to those reports are recorded in the minutes of the subsequent board meeting.

Policies and practices

The Board Charter sets out the responsibilities and processes of the Board, including the code of conduct for directors. The Board reviews this document at least once a year.

Key policies and practices of the Board include:

• independent professional advice—with the Chair’s approval, directors may obtain independent professional advice, at our expense, on matters arising in the course of their duties
• performance monitoring—the Board sets out a detailed plan for the corporation at the start of each year, and reviews the corporation’s performance against the plan throughout the year. This is a key factor in determining the level of any performance bonuses paid to our staff.

Table 9: Board committees

Meetings

During 2019–20, the Board held meetings in Canberra, Adelaide and Hobart and via teleconference from April 2020 to June 2020 and joined the regional panels on their spring tours in September 2019.

Each director’s attendance at meetings during the year is set out in Table 10.

Table 10: Attendance at board and committee meetings, 2019–20