THREE Meat & Livestock Australia board vacancies will be filled at this year’s annual general meeting taking place in Tamworth in November.

The skill-sets required for this year’s board vacancies broadly cover beef production, technology and innovation, and food processing and value-adding. The skill requirements are set each year by the MLA board selection committee, based on the changing needs and challenges faced by the red meat industry.

Candidates with skills and experience in at least one of the following areas are encouraged to apply for this year’s vacancies:

• Knowledge and connections across the agri-food ecosystem including RDC sector, government and research providers, and demonstrated experience in food value-adding
• Extensive experience in technology and innovation, logistics, data and integrity systems, entrepreneurship and legal
• Broad production experience, running a multi-faceted enterprise with a proven track record in strategic thinking and precision agriculture

MLA directors are normally elected for three-year terms, but early mid-term resignations last year (retail and marketing specialist Alistair Watson, and George Scott, Northern cattle production) has created the need for some departures from the normal process.

MLA chair Michele Allan will complete her three-year board term this year (like all incumbent board-members, she is eligible to re-stand, if she so chooses), and she will be joined by two other current directors – Rob Fitzpatrick and Erin Gorter – whose terms were carried over for an additional year following the earlier mid-term board resignations.

Normal three-year terms will resume after this year.

MLA’s board is skills-based and currently comprises nine directors including eight non-executive directors and the managing director. Directors are nominated through the Selection Committee and endorsed by members at MLA AGMs for a three-year term.

All candidates must have a genuine interest in, and a broad understanding of, the Australian red meat and livestock industry, strong business acumen, financial literacy, a sound understanding of good governance and well-developed communication skills ensuring a collaborative approach is highly regarded.

Applicants are subject to a selection process, where the board selection committee, assisted by an external Board recruitment consultant, considers nominations, conducts interviews and then endorses candidates for election to the MLA board by MLA members at the annual general meeting each year.

Candidates put forward for election by the members are selected by a nine-person board selection committee which is made up of three industry representatives, four member-elected producer representatives and two non-voting members of the current MLA board.

The MLA Board provides strategic guidance and oversight of the management and performance of MLA in delivering its strategy. The board operates under mature corporate governance and risk management frameworks to ensure producer levies, government matching dollars and partner funds are invested effectively and in the right areas.

• Applications for this year’s three board positions will close on Friday, 31 May.
• Click here to access an information pack outlining the application process.
• MLA’s 2019 annual general meeting will be held in Tamworth, NSW as part of Red Meat 2019 industry event from 18-21 November.