Strengthening Practice Change, Education & Extension in Reef Catchments

The report is now completed and has been submitted to DAF/EHP (Queensland Government). Thanks to all who responded to the draft report. There were nine responses to the web survey forms, a further 12 separate responses as well as feedback from participants at the Brisbane workshop in May.

We systematically went through and numbered each point made by each person who responded and then considered what changes were needed. We received a good bit of correction/clarification on some of the industry and regional details – thanks, we really appreciated capturing the picture better! There was some feedback on the need for flexible arrangements re coordination – especially in grazing and we made note of this. We also included a diagram to better explain the thinking behind an on-going framework for training/capacity development within the extension/advisory discipline. We developed more detail around the potential of the BMP programs and clarified some of the other recommendations further. There were no significant challenges to the main ideas in the report – feedback was mainly around the detail and how these would play out on implementation.

We have uploaded a copy of the now modified report with the changes made after the feedback received and have highlighted changes made so that you can see where the feedback influenced this final version. We are also happy to provide you with a list of the points you personally made and our response to it, if you would like this. The effort and thinking put into this input was very much appreciated – and has certainly lead to a better outcome.

The next step is for the Queensland Government agencies to go through the recommendations and make decisions about priorities and actions they wish to support. An implementation plan is being developed and will be actioned over time.

On a parallel front, the pilot graduate program is underway and initial extension training workshops are planned to be rolled out. It is great to see some momentum building. There will also be a reef extension workshop as part of the APEN International Extension conference being held in Townsville in September – which will be a good opportunity to progress some of actions.

Thanks again for being part of the journey to date.