Submission to Wool Levy Poll Policy Settings Consultation

Livestock SA is the peak industry organisation representing South Australia’s red meat and wool producers, including more than 5,200 sheep producers, 2,700 beef cattle producers and several hundred goat producers across the state. We work to secure a strong, sustainable and profitable livestock industry.

South Australia’s livestock sector is worth $4.3 billion annually, supports 21,000 jobs, and produces around 57 million kilograms of wool each year. Livestock SA supports woolgrowers retaining control over the compulsory wool levy for research, development and marketing and welcomes consultation on Wool Levy Poll policy settings.

Key recommendations

• Wool Levy Poll cycle
  • Move to a five‑year Wool Levy Poll cycle, aligned with Meat & Livestock Australia’s strategic planning cycle.
  • Include safeguards to maintain producer oversight and responsiveness, given South Australia’s highly variable climatic and market conditions.
  • Investigate a producer‑triggered out‑of‑cycle poll mechanism.
• Voting system
  • Retain the optional preferential voting system to ensure levy outcomes reflect majority producer support and maintain confidence in the result.
• Wool Poll Panel governance
  • Strengthen independence and transparency by:
    • Removing AWI board involvement in Panel selection
    • Removing AWI observer roles
    • Clearly separating service‑provider input from Panel decision‑making
• Voting eligibility and entitlement
  • Any changes must consider South Australia’s high proportion of small to medium and mixed‑enterprise producers.
  • Undertake SA‑specific modelling and analysis before changing eligibility thresholds.
  • Maintain proportional fairness in voting entitlements and avoid disenfranchising moderate‑scale producers.
• Ballot structure
  • Simplify and neutralise the ballot by:
    • Capping levy options at four (0%, status quo, increase or decrease by a set amount)
    • Removing optional additional levy rates
    • Removing any requirement for AWI to recommend a preferred levy rate
• Government oversight
  • Retain procedural government oversight of the ballot process, provided it does not compromise Panel independence.

Livestock SA supports modernising the Wool Levy Poll framework where reforms strengthen democratic legitimacy, independent governance and strategic coordination across the sheep value chain, while ensuring fair and representative outcomes for South Australian producers.