KEY INSIGHTS Justin Toohey, Cattle Council of Australia The major learning from the development and implementation experience revolves around ownership and consultation. New policy implementation circles around three phases: development, implementation and post-implementation. Whilst there was room for improvement in all phases, it was phase three that needed the most work. Although there was a huge effort made to develop communications packages pre-emptively, much more was needed. In saying this, recognition must be given to the work undertaken by individuals from AHA, Livestock Biosecurity Network, state farming organisations, livestock agencies, government departments and CCA in communicating the changes and supporting producers throughout the transition. Renata Berglas, AgForce Queensland There are two clear take away messages for me from the workshop: • The communications team can’t work effectively without the policy team being engaged in the process. The original policy working group that lead the national JD reform should have been engaged in planning communications and championing the information distribution. The communications people involved weren’t aware that the policy debate wasn’t over and that there was no national consensus on the outcomes of deregulation. • Not enough consideration was given to producers’ ability to adjust to not having zones. In Queensland under the zone system producers didn’t worry about JD as it wasn’t considered an extensive grazing concern. No one thought about managing risk or what the clinical signs might look like. Everyone was clear on one thing - if the government found JD in your herd, then your business was ruined. In light of this it is not hard to see how from their angle J-BAS and biosecurity planning was just another regulatory burden. Tangible benefits were never explained. This lead to a lack of ownership for the reform process. Who wants to be the one championing more regulation and red tape? Bonnie Skinner, Livestock Biosecurity Network My biggest challenge was navigating the misunderstanding of the new policy amongst producers and stakeholders. Unfortunately, the disease itself is not a straightforward one and producers were largely unsure about where risks may lie for them and their enterprises, and how J-BAS was going to operate in practical situations. I found the producers I spoke to were a mix of supportive, outraged, or on the fence because they weren’t sure as to whether this was something that was going to affect them now or in the future. Delivering talks at workshops or speaking to producers one-on-one provided them with some more background knowledge and context. This helped many gain a better understanding. From the communications workshop, I found that where a change in policy in one industry or species is going to affect others, it’s imperative that the relevant stakeholders are brought along for the ride through adequate consultation. 14 THE LINK AUT/WIN 18
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