This year’s nine Graeme Acton Beef Connections mentees: Drew Walsh, Gemma Somerset, Amelia Unthank, Sean Wright, Caitlin Herbert, Adam Bonner, Naomi Leahy, Laura Healey, Zoe Macfarlane.

THE Graeme Acton Beef Connections mentoring project being held in the lead-up to Beef 2027 in Rockhampton next May is underway, and as part of that process, Beef Central is following the journey of one of the nine talented young industry stakeholders taking part.

Using a monthly diary format, Amelia ‘Millie’ Unthank will outline her experiences and learnings as part of the mentoring program.

Born and bred in southern New South Wales, Millie’s connection to the beef industry is grounded in her family’s stock and station agency – a foundation that continues to shape her values and long-term outlook.

Her path has since taken her from Melbourne for university, to engineering roles in Canberra developing Agscent’s cutting-edge diagnostic technology, and now to Cloncurry in north-west Queensland where she works as agtech manager with large-scale northern beef producer, MDH Pty Ltd.

Each career step is adding a new dimension to her perspective on the industry.

With a background in bio-engineering and a growing specialisation in computer science, Millie has built a skillset that sits comfortably between data, technology and on-the-ground production. In her current role as agtech manager at MDH, she works to ensure that innovation delivers practical value.

This blend of technical capability and operational experience is underpinned by a broader motivation, to contribute to an industry that balances progress with legacy.

Millie remains connected to her family’s agency business Brian Unthank Rural, and is a co-founder of The Primary Source, an initiative aimed at strengthening industry understanding and dialogue.

She sees leadership as something built through shared experience, strong networks and a willingness to learn.

Over the next ten months, through her Beef Central diary she will outline her journey towards executing her chosen Beef Connections project, culminating with a presentation in Rockhampton along with her mentee cohort.

• Keep a lookout for a Weekly Grill podcast featuring Millie’s early engagement in the Beef Connections program.

Here’s Millie’s first monthly diary entry…..

NINE young industry leaders and their established mentors gathered in Brisbane late last month for their first face-to-face engagement. It marks the start of Graeme Acton Beef Connections – a 12-month program in the lead-up to Beef 2027.

Millie Unthank

Running for the fifth time, the program is designed to grow future leaders in the Australian beef industry. It was an idea originally developed by the Beef 2015 NextGen Committee, and the Beef Australia board named the program in honour of Graeme Acton to recognise his contribution to the agricultural industry and its younger generations.

Mentoring partnerships

Young leaders were selected from a national pool after outlining their resumes and roles in beef, detailing where they see themselves in five years and pitching an industry-based project.

Their mentors were purposefully matched and are generously committing their time and perspectives to the program.

This year’s pairings are:

• Drew Walsh (NSW) matched with David Foote
• Gemma Somerset (NT) matched with Pip Job
• Amelia Unthank (NSW) matched with Sue Webster
• Sean Wright (TAS) matched with Richard Rains
• Caitlin Herbert (NSW) matched with Prue Bondfield
• Adam Bonner (QLD) matched with Greg Zillman
• Naomi Leahy (NSW) matched with Tim Ford
• Laura Healey (VIC) matched with Oli Le Lievre
• Zoe Macfarlan (NSW) matched with Madie Hamilton

About the program

The program brings together ongoing online engagement, work on an industry project and three face-to-face workshops – culminating at Beef 2027 – all facilitated by Jo Eady from RuralScope.

Jo captures it best: “I like to think that this program’s evolved into not just being about developing leaders. It’s actually about developing leadership. And leadership encompasses processes. It encompasses systems. It encompasses the whole of the industry. So, I think we are in that stage where, sure, the program has nine people in it. But we’re not just working to develop them as leaders. We’re working to develop, change, challenge and innovate the leadership of an industry.”

Mentors and mentees in Brisbane

The two-day introductory program in Brisbane saw plenty of opportunity for leadership development. Introductions to personality styles, defining values, the power of leadership influence and the mentoring relationship model laid the blueprint.

Guest presentations from Lachie Hart, Georgie Somerset and Andrea Crothers brought it to life. The enthusiasm the cohort arrived with did the rest.

There’s something quietly remarkable about arriving with a loose idea and leaving two days later with the kind of clarity you didn’t know you were missing

When asked why the two days in Brisbane were important, Jo said: “They’re important to take time out. They’re important for young people to come together. It’s important for them to understand and set in place goals for their own leadership. But to jointly set goals as a team as well. We don’t have enough of this going on at the moment.”

And what did this all mean to me? Let me say upfront, that the Brisbane workshop changed my life. It sounds dramatic, because it is true.

Ideas into action

There’s something quietly remarkable about arriving with a loose idea and leaving two days later with the kind of clarity you didn’t know you were missing. I came with a half-formed concept and left knowing exactly what it was going to be, why it mattered and where it was going.

I met my eight fellow mentees, brought together by one industry. We learnt about our differences, and somewhere in that difference, I found out things about myself I hadn’t thought to look for. Confronting in the moment. Comforting in the company of people going through the same thing.

The age-old saying ‘You don’t know until you know’ feels like a great way to sum up my time in Brisbane and the start of Graeme Acton Beef Connections program.

For young people like me, we often don’t understand the power of leadership and self-reflection until granted the opportunity to spend time and have space to do so, particularly in a work context. For people in support of programs like Graeme Acton Beef Connections, you don’t know the impact it has until you, too, have the opportunity to participate or until you get to read a piece like this.

Join me here

So welcome, I look forward to writing in this space over the next 10 months and sharing the conversations and lessons that rarely get written down.

See you next month!

Millie