Identifying investment gaps & opportunities for building community trust & acceptance in the Australian grains industry

To deliver on the 2023-28 Grains Research & Development Corporation (GRDC) Research, Development and Extension (RD&E) plan, community trust has been identified as a high priority area for investment. High levels of community trust and acceptance allow the grains industry to have freedom to operate without criticism of industry practices or new technologies, like genetic engineering.

GRDC want to identify potential investment opportunities to support this aim, both for the life of RD&E plan and into the future. Future investment will support four outcomes:

GRDC and industry have good information on key challenges around building trust and have the capability to respond effectively.

• Communities accept Australian grain production systems and trust they are ethically and sustainably producing grain and that produce and production systems do not represent any major risks to consumers, communities or the environment
• Communities are supportive of the Australian grains industry adopting new and innovative technologies and practices, for example, genetic modification or automation.
• Growers understand and support the need to build community trust and acceptance around practices throughout industry.
• Growers are able to use an Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) framework and advocate for themselves on trust issues.

This consultancy will undertake a review of the current landscape surrounding community trust of agricultural industries, including past and current research and development, and identify where high impact investment can occur to build and maintain trust in the Australian grains industry into the future. This will consider how to influence and build trust within the broad Australian community, how to continue measuring trust and the role GRDC and growers can play in this space.

The consultant will submit a report to GRDC that provides a clear list of gaps and priorities for investment for targeted investment opportunities to maintain and build trust of the grains industry within the Australian community.