There is an opportunity to create a new partnership with the Australian Recreational Fishing Foundation (ARFF) to aggregate information from a regional and jurisdictional level to a national forum with the view to provide advise the FRDC in prioritising strategic and tactical investments in RD&E to deliver positive outcomes for the Australian recreational sector.
An ARFF – FRDC partnership could be extend beyond simply prioritisation, to include establishing opportunities for effective and targeted extension and adoption of R&D outputs to effect cultural and behavioural changes within recreational sector beneficiaries.
A properly resourced and coordinated collaboration may also identify opportunities for co-investment with traditional and non-traditional sources, particularly those linked to the ARFF network.
This proposal looks to formalise a partnership between the recreational fishing sector and the FRDC and outlines the structure, function, resourcing and phases of that partnership model.
The effective delivery of this partnership model will in turn derive benefits to the recreational sector, its supporters, the broader Australian community, and the FRDC through the delivery of the R&D Plan 2020-2025.

In a 2019 review of FRDC’s investment in people development, it was noted that significant variability exists across the industry in terms of leadership capability and capacity with most of FRDC investment focused on mid to higher levels of leadership (Lovett). While this past review is comprehensive, it is now 5 years old and pre-dates the ‘black swan’ event of COVID-19 that saw widespread disruptions to the economy, supply chains, and workforce, and has had consequences for leadership capacity and capability needs.

This project will review the current leadership development ecosystem, mapping relevant leadership programs, and identify potential opportunities for a diverse range of industry participants who will benefit from developing leadership capability and skills. Furthermore, acknowledging that leadership capability is not necessarily tied to formal positions of leadership, this project aims to identify different entry points for individual leadership development to ensure accessibility of opportunities. Any potential gaps in accessibility and potential new pathways will be identified. It is imperative that a lack of knowledge of learning and training opportunities to develop non-technical skills or low confidence levels to engage due to unclear entry pathways is not a barrier to any willing participant seeking to enhance their strengths and pursue an interest in making greater contributions that align with industry leadership capacity needs.

Our project combines a review of modern leadership definitions, theories, frameworks and practices, and through stakeholder engagement seeks to identify how these meet the context specific leadership challenges for the wild catch and aquaculture industries. Qualitative and quantitative research will be used to map and evaluate the current leadership development ecosystem for the wild catch and aquaculture sectors, identifying current pathways, recruitment processes, target outcomes, and the value and variety of alumni. Gaps in leadership capacity and capability will be identified and areas for potential changes investigated. Recommendations for improving return on investment in the existing leadership ecosystem will be made, including continuing development or improved integration of post program leaders into the industry. The current project has been designed to provide the breadth and depth of information that leads to practical implications for further industry engagement in leadership capacity and capability development.