An industry forum is held annually to ensure ongoing engagement and ownership of the Australian Beef Sustainability Framework (ABSF) by the beef industry.
The ABSF must represent the views and objectives of the industry to be an effective customer and consumer-facing framework.
The Sustainability Steering Group (SSG) agreed a suitable method to address this need was to expand on the Consultative Committee format and develop an annual Industry Committee. This annual event consists of a tailored agenda specific to internal industry stakeholders, with a focus on some more contentious matters where an internal industry view may be in opposition to, or to some extent conflicting with, external views. Further comments highlighted some industry stakeholders felt uncomfortable raising discussion points when in the same room as some external stakeholders. This is a major concern which needs addressing, as it can lead to the incompleteness of industry representation.