The Company

Greenlife Industry Australia (GIA) is the peak industry body for the Australian nursery industry. They are responsible for overseeing the industry’s development, promoting the sale of greenlife and raising awareness of the value of plants in the wider community. This includes managing the programs to improve the sustainability and profitability of production nurseries across Australia and their value within the supply chains of food, foliage and fibre. Nursery production is the most diverse sector in horticulture producing over 30k species/cultivars across ornamental, landscape, vegetable, fruit, forestry and revegetation supply chains. To service this well requires a dedicated resource on the ground.

THE INDUSTRY

The Australian greenlife industry is a community contributing to Australia and all Australians through the uniqueness and diversity of its product and its people.

The industry encompasses the ornamental market and supplies starter plants for fruit and vegetable production and stock for landscaping, forestry and revegetation.

The 18/19 farmgate value of the greenlife industry in Australia is $2.44 billion. It produces 2 billion plants annually and growers employ an estimated 23,000 people across the country. The industry is the breeding ground for all horticulture, directly contributing to Australia’s liveable cities and food security.

The importance of the industry cannot be understated as it significantly underpins the food, fibre and foliage plant production in Australia, contributes significantly to the economy and provides aesthetic and functional solutions to climate change.

The role

Reporting to the GIA National Biosecurity Manager, there is now a vacancy for an Extension Officer to drive the program, projecting extension and communication activities throughout the Sydney basin, north coast and regional areas of NSW. This covers Best Management Practices (BMP) across sustainable plant production, plant protection and biosecurity issues that impact the grower.

This extension role involves:

• Travelling around visiting production nurseries
• Providing on-site support
• Working closely with growers to showcase and assist in the adoption and implementation of the BMP resources available including:
  • plant production systems
  • record keeping
  • skills training and certification

The person

To be successful in this role you will ideally have:

• Tertiary qualifications in agriculture/ horticultural science or related discipline
• Horticulture/agriculture extension or advisory experience
• Experience in systems compliance auditing, or willing to acquire a qualification
• Plant production technical knowledge, understanding nursery production and horticulture
• Strong communication and organisational skills

The autonomous role involves some regional NSW travel, so a company vehicle will be provided. You will be understanding and patient by nature being able to empathise and engage with people easily. This is a great role if you enjoy travel and site visits to understand, share information to assist and support production nursery growers.

To enquire please call Al Kellaway of Rimfire Resources for a copy of the Position Description on 1300 380 701.