Ethics, Equity and the Environment Harmonize at the Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries

The Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries (DAF) is an exemplary role model of a government agency taking the accelerating environmental risks of our times seriously by baking climate considerations into every one of their planning efforts. Put plainly in their most recent Disaster Management Plan, “These risks are likely to increase the social, environmental and financial impacts of disaster events, with the potential for a greater demand on response and recovery agencies and a greater need for community resilience.”

Community resilience is at the heart of DAF’s work to ensure Queensland’s youth have the possibility of a prosperous future. DAF contributes to and operates within the principles of the Queensland Government’s objectives for the community. 2,000 staff employed across 170 sites fuel the department’s contributions to the community objectives and execute the day-to-day operations of DAF’s 2023-27 Strategic Plan.

Critical to this plan is “Walking with First Nation Queenslanders.” Recognizing that First Nations people have an inherited right to the land and marine resources that abound in Queensland, DAF works directly with remote First Nation communities to support their fishing industry. This bridge-building work aligns with the department’s rigorous planning efforts to create a diverse and equitable workplace where employees feel they belong. Beyond the workplace, these efforts must ripple throughout Queensland from stones thrown by DAF’s community partners.

The breadth of DAF’s work is spread across four primary business groups, each heavily dependent on a healthy environment for future success: agriculture, biosecurity, corporate, and fisheries and forestry. “Across our business groups, we are dedicated to ensuring the production and protection of Queensland’s rich natural resources. … Operating within diverse environments and industries, each of our business groups plays a vital role in this mission – and you can, too,” writes the department about their work.

Creating opportunities for community members and encouraging them to engage is tenant to DAF’s outreach efforts. As such, they have created a pipeline for graduate students whose current research and career aspirations align with DAF’s business group. Graduates accepted into the two-year program receive professional development training and mentorship while delivering real-world solutions to Queenslanders.

Some of DAF’s key work is enabled by Echo360’s *PRODUCT NAME*. Easy-to-use and dynamic instructional design, learning and assessment tools are essential for any organization trying to keep up with the accelerations of today’s world. Make sure your staff, like DAF’s, are prepared to take on anything their position demands of them, whether that be planning for the next hurricane or preparing grad students for their first time presenting research before a funding board.