Compliance
Board of Directors
RIST policies and direction are set by RIST’s Board of Directors. This Board has strong farming, finance and business representation and is empathetic to the needs of the rural community.
Tony Fleetwood – Chairman
Tony Fleetwood is a past President of the Grassland Society and has been involved in a number of rural industry associations. He owns and operates a prime lamb operation in Western Victoria and is a strong advocate for training and education in agriculture. Tony was Chairman of the Board from July 2009 to July 2017. He was re-elected Chairman in May 2023.
Joff Macleod – Deputy Chairman
Joff joined the Board of RIST in 2023. He is a Director of Terra Australis Advisory where he is responsible for advising groups of large private clients in all aspects of business. Prior to establishing Terra Australis Advisory, Joff was a partner in the Private Client division of PwC in Melbourne. Joff sits on the board of various large family groups and private enterprises in the agriculture and financial services sectors. His keen interest in the agricultural sector extends to operating a small cattle farm at Yea in Victoria. A graduate of The University of Melbourne, Joff has a Bachelor of Commerce and a Master of Taxation and has in excess of 35 years in the Chartered Accounting profession.
Lachie Brown
Lachie joined the board of RIST in 2024. He is State Wool Manager Victoria/Riverina, South Australia, and Tasmania for Elders Ltd. Prior to this he held roles with AWB in grower services and marketing. After growing up on his family wool/prime lamb property, Lachie studied a Bachelor of Agricultural Science at University of Melbourne. He is passionate about educating and developing the next generation of talent in agriculture and is heavily involved in training and mentoring in the wool industry.
Barbara Young
Barbara joined the Board of RIST in 2015. She has a degree in law and is a member of the Law Institute in Victoria. She has chaired the boards of the Warrnambool and District Base Hospital and South West Healthcare. She has had many years’ involvement in the higher education sector in a number of roles at Deakin University. Barbara is a strong advocate of education in the agribusiness sector and its importance for rural communities.
Tony Gregson AM
Tony has a distinguished academic career having held academic appointments at the Universities of Melbourne, Oxford, New England and North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Currently he is Chairman of the Melbourne University Botany Foundation and the Victorian Committee of the Crawford Fund, a Board Member of the Crawford Fund and of FAR (Field Applied Research) Australia. He was elected to the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering in 2003 and made a Member of the Order of Australia in 2009 for his contribution to agricultural research. Tony operates a 3500 hectare property in Western Victoria.
Fiona Best
Fiona joined the RIST board in 2023. She is the CEO of Birchip Cropping Group where she works with her team to bring relevant agricultural research and extension opportunities to farming communities by attracting investments to improve the prosperity of broadacre farming locally, regionally and nationally. She has also had extensive experience working in the education sector teaching agriculture. After growing up on her mixed enterprise family farm, cropping and producing sheep, Fiona studied a Bachelor of Agricultural Science (Honours) and Bachelor of Commerce at the University of Melbourne. Fiona is the Regional Director, Victoria Drought Resilience Adoption and Innovation Hub.
John Stewien
John is a director of ZSA Pty Ltd and an accredited mediator by the Institute of Arbitrators and Mediators. His past positions include a Conciliator with the ACCS Victoria, Commissioner ERC Victoria, Advisor to the Federal Public Service Merit Protection Commission, General Manager Industry/ Teaching Services at the Melbourne Institute of Textiles and National General Manager Personnel Operations Kmart Australia, Officer Royal Australian Navy including Commanding Officer HMAS ADVANCE and a Master Mariner – Foreign Ongoing.
Policies
RIST has developed a range of policies, which ensure that its training continues to be of the highest order, the environment in which the training is provided is safe and pleasant and all students are treated in a respectful, professional and non-discriminatory manner.
Quality Indicators
These indicators are based on a survey of 41 students and 17 employers.
This sample represents 58% of the Learner Questionnaires population and 45% of the Employer Questionnaires population for the 2015 calendar year.
The students and employers surveyed for these indicators were selected by this organisation in accordance with national guidelines.