Summary

AgriFutures Australia’s levied industries are diverse, unique and rapidly adapting to a changing  environment. These industries need a robust understanding of the social context in which they  operate to maximise investment into innovation, learning, leadership and inform their social risk  management. 

This year, AgriFutures Australia has continued its ambitious program of research and extension  focused on community trust. The first of its kind globally, this program of work:
• Develops capability across industry sectors to monitor, anticipate and respond to shifts in the levels of trust the community has in Australia’s rural industries,
• Introduced a common language and fostered an understanding across industry sectors around the community trust challenge, and
• Tests best practice approaches, strategies and interventions for building, rebuilding and maintaining community trust, and share these learnings with the wider sector.
Voconiq work to date in the Agricultural space has revealed both the key drivers of trust in rural industries and tracked changes in them over time. The program has exposed hundreds of participants in and stakeholders of Australia’s rural industries to this work through dozens of extension activities, presentations, and workshops. Public and transparent reporting has enabled the program of work itself to be a demonstration of the sector’s intent and commitment to deepening the relationship it has with the Australian community. This information allows Voconiq to cater approaches to levied industries that will provide the highest impact and allow for key benchmarks to be made against AgriFutures Australia 
Research and Innovation Strategic Plan (2022 – 2027) objectives, in particular meeting the needs of their industries (Focus Area 1) and creating benchmarks to measure changes in community confidence (Priority 6). 

Levied industries pose unique challenges and issues that may impact how the community perceives them. A standalone research program, run in parallel with the broader Community Trust in Rural Industries program, will provide levied industries with their own focused advice on how to manage their relationships with the Australian community and key (supportive and critical) industry stakeholders. Voconiq is proud to have been a part of this process and lays out a program of work in this proposal to begin the journey with Australia’s levied industries. 

Program

All Levied Industries

Research Organisation

Reflexivity Pty Ltd