On 12 September, our Secretary Series featured Adam Fennessy PSM, Secretary of the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry. Marking nearly a year in his role, Adam shared insights on DAFF’s priorities, its vision shaped by an APSC capability review, and the department’s approach to flexible work.

Adam also emphasised the significance of understanding your ‘why,’ which for him, is driven by the immediate connection with community and purpose. Key takeaways from his address included:

🌻Knowing your ‘why’ helps you make decisions about where you want to take your career
🌻The majority of Agriculture’s staff are based outside of Canberra – it’s important to help them stay connected
🌻Staff roles are very varied: biosecurity experts, scientists, trade negotiators, veterinarians, policy analysts and lawyers
🌻Agriculture is an economic development agency with a vision for a more prosperous and sustainable Australia
🌻 The three strategic objectives of Growing Australia Together:
👉supporting Australia’s agricultural sector to be increasingly prosperous and internationally competitive
👉increasing the contribution agriculture, fisheries and forestry make to a healthy, sustainable and low-emissions environment
👉 strengthening our national biosecurity system to provide a risk-based approach and an appropriate level of protection for our people, environment and economy
🌻Flexible work remains a priority, it is the new normal
🌻Trusted staff perform the best
🌻Pay attention to your staff who work in remote locations and ensure you stay connected
🌻The level of laughter is a good indicator of a healthy workplace
🌻Tune into research and look at the evidence base
🌻Economic inclusion of First Nations peoples is a focus point for the department
🌻Agriculture needs to balance industry needs with broad Australian values

Transcript – a copy of the transcript will be available soon.
Video – a video of the event is below or can be viewed on the IPAA ACT Vimeo channel.