Development of the Australian Agriculture Sustainability Framework is led by the National Farmers’ Federation (NFF) on behalf of the Australian agricultural industry and is supported by the Australian Government through the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Forestry (DAFF).
The Australian Agriculture Sustainability Framework (AASF), functioning at the national level, is designed to prevent any increase in the burden of on-farm reporting. This approach ensures continued industry support for the initiative while establishing a precedent for the data ecosystem to deliver comprehensive reporting for the framework. By utilising this data, farmers will gain valuable insights into finance, supply chain and market expectations regarding sustainability and ESG (environmental, social and governance) requirements.
The AASF aims to streamline reporting processes and provide valuable information to farmers without imposing additional reporting burdens on them.
While many producers collect sustainability performance data on a property basis, whether that be aligned to an industry sustainability framework or for independent reporting, the need for national reporting is significant. Internationally, benchmarking national agricultural practice against environmental, social and governance (ESG) priorities is becoming essential to operate and compete. Australia does not have a national framework to coalesce this data and demonstrate national sustainability credentials in a framework that is aligned with international, industry and market requirements.
Customers, shareholders and regulatory bodies are increasingly seeking assurance when investing in Australian agricultural products. Demonstrating our sustainability credentials in a robust, industry supported framework provides them with the confidence that Australia can prove its sustainability status.
The uniqueness of Australian agriculture and its specific production conditions are not adequately reflected in the current global sustainability frameworks. As a result, domestic commodity-based sustainability frameworks have been developed to address these specific conditions. However, these frameworks are limited in scope as they focus solely on individual commodities and fail to address sustainability issues that are relevant to the entire agricultural industry. Moreover, many commodities face specific issues unique to them which may be challenging to confront and some existing frameworks might not have the courage to address them directly. As a result, commodity-based sustainability frameworks tend to overlook or sidestep these difficult challenges, which can hinder the comprehensive sustainability efforts needed to tackle the complexities of the agricultural sector effectively.
The Australian Agriculture Sustainability Framework (AASF) takes a different approach. It is designed with high-level themes, principles and criteria to accommodate the diverse range of commodities, geographic locations and production systems present in the country. By allowing this flexibility, the AASF aims to foster alignment and consistency across various existing and emerging frameworks, schemes and programs. Additionally, the framework seeks to tackle common issues like data accessibility, which can be beneficial for the entire agricultural sector in Australia.
The Australian Agriculture Sustainability Framework (AASF) is effectively avoiding ‘greenwashing’ through its commitment to transparency and active industry engagement. By involving over 1300 farmers, finance, retail, supply chain representatives and other stakeholders in defining its principles, the AASF ensures a comprehensive and inclusive approach.
To prevent unsubstantiated sustainability claims, the AASF relies on a robust evidence base. This includes aggregation of information from various commodity frameworks and schemes, consideration of international standards and sustainability initiatives, input from the Community of Practice and engagement with stakeholders.
Moreover, the framework aligns with existing domestic and global sustainability frameworks, using their insights to inform and shape its own credentials. In the future, the AASF will draw evidence from a data ecosystem which is being investigated by CSIRO.
Do you have a question about the AASF that hasn’t been adequately covered? We’d love to help you get your answers! Please reach out to a member of our team using the form below.
The Australian Agricultural Sustainability Framework is funded by the Australian Department of Agriculture, Fisheries & Forestry through the National Agriculture Traceability Grants Program. Project delivery is led by the National Farmers’ Federation.
We acknowledge the Traditional Owners of country throughout Australia and recognise their continuing connection to land, waters and culture. We pay our respects to their Elders past, present and emerging.
© The Australian Agricultural Sustainability Framework. Copyright of National Farmers Federation.
David is Principal Research Scientist for CSIRO and leads the Social and Strategic Design Team. David’s research interests focus broadly on the nature of data (especially geospatial data), and the ways in which society creates, manages, governs, and structures data and data supply chains for the purposes of sharing data. He designs and leads projects aimed at creating new systems for sharing information as well as systems for managing environmental information.
Over his career, David has worked across numerous domains including environment, agriculture, water, defence and transport and is regularly called upon as a trusted advisor with respect to the design of human systems for the purpose of sharing data across multiple organisations.
Angela is the Managing Director of Schuster Consulting Group and a member of the cross-functional team responsible for delivering projects under the Australian Agricultural Sustainability Framework. Angela is Chair of the Agricultural Business Research Institute (ABRI) and Standards Australia’s technical committee on data-driven agrifood systems and was previously the Australian representative for the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) Strategic Advisory Group on Smart Farming.
In addition, Angela and her husband run a sheep, cattle and cropping enterprise just out of Dubbo in the Central West of NSW.
David is a farmer and physicist who has worked in precision agriculture for 30 years. He is presently the Chief Scientist of Food Agility CRC which is focussed on transforming the agrifood sector using the power of data and digital. He also leads the AgTrace initiative in partnership with DAFF. Passionate about ‘reality-fuelled’ agtech innovation on farms, he has established two university smart farms and the Global Smart Farm Network.
Andrew is an accomplished technology leader with over 25 years experience delivering cutting-edge solutions across diverse industries, including media, utilities, defence, manufacturing, health, and agrifood. He possesses extensive expertise in international agri-food technology ecosystems, and is a trusted advisor to industry organisations, supply chain entities, researchers, startups, and governments. Andrew founded the technology consultancy More Than Machines, where he assists agrifood organisations, startups, researchers, and governments in developing digital strategies, policies and technology solutions that leverage data and AI to optimise their land, production, markets, and products. Previously, as Chief Data Officer at Meat and Livestock Australia, he developed and implemented the Australian Red Meat industry data strategy and digital supply chain research programs, demonstrably increasing productivity, product quality, and enabling new market opportunities through targeted digital technology implementation.
Anna is a wine industry professional since the late 90’s, working in vineyard management and winemaking both in Australia and overseas, and later as General Manager of a premium, sustainability focused, wine producer in South Australia. She has been a non-executive director on private and government boards in the fields of biosecurity, natural resource management and grape and wine business and currently sits on the board of Landcare Australia. Immediately prior to the formation of Australian Grape and Wine she gained experience in national advocacy as Chief Executive Officer of Australian Vignerons. Having worked across a broad range of roles, including practical hands-on industry experience, she is well placed in her role to promote the best interests of the sector on domestic policy issues relating to environmental and economic sustainability. She is leading the project on carbon emissions traceability that is the focus of the presentation.
Melindee is a Research Fellow at the University of Melbourne’s School of Agriculture, Food and Ecosystems Science, where she focusses on the consumer defined opportunity for sustainable food production. Melindee has over 20 years’ experience in R&D leadership for academia and international FMCGs such as Cadbury, Kraft, and Mondelez.
Warwick is General Manager of Natural Resource Management with the National Farmers Federation, and Project Lead for the Australian Agricultural Sustainability Framework.
Warwick was raised on a farm in the NSW Southern Highlands and has almost 30 years experience in rural and regional advocacy. Prior to joining NFF Warwick had been working in the Commonwealth Government in stakeholder engagement roles and had previously spent a decade with NSW Farmers’ Association and a further decade as chief executive of Australian Forest Growers.
Adam has over 25 years of public sector experience at state and federal levels. His former roles have included Secretary of the Victorian Department of Environment and Primary Industries, Secretary of the Victorian Department of Environment, Land, Water & Planning, the Victorian Public Sector Commissioner and Dean & CEO of the Australia and New Zealand School of Government (ANZSOG). Adam has worked in the private sector as a partner with global advisory firm Ernst & Young.
Adam is an IPAA National Fellow and previously served on the board of IPAA Victoria. In 2018, he received a Public Service Medal (PSM) for leadership in the Victorian public sector.
Neil is a Senior Policy Officer providing advice on international market access, trade and capability building to grow the state’s agricultural industry.
His career has a balance of government and private industry experience including eight years at Coles Supermarkets where he was Responsible Sourcing Manager transforming the animal welfare and sustainable production credentials for its own brand products.
David, commonly referred to as ‘DJ’, is a third generation dryland mixed farmer. DJ operates his family’s property at Murra Warra in the Wimmera, Victoria, producing various broadacre crops and finishing prime lambs. He has been heavily involved at all levels of farmer advocacy since finishing his Diploma of Applied Science (Ag Services) at Longerenong College. DJ was elected as President of the National Farmers’ Federation in October 2023 after serving as Vice President and Director for numerous years.
DJ is a past recipient of a Nuffield Australia Scholarship and Australian Rural Leadership Program and is an active contributor to his local community.