Monitoring, evaluation and learning report for the DRLP

MONITORING, EVALUATION AND LEARNING REPORT FOR THE DROUGHT RESILIENCE LEADERS PROGRAM

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF COUNTRY

We acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of all the lands on which we meet, work and live. We also wish to acknowledge the sacredness of the land, the continued spiritual presence and Elders past, present and future. We also wish to acknowledge that this always was and always will be Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander land. Our work is not possible without the generosity of First Nations Australians who welcome us onto their land and into their communities and lives. Through our work we strive for truth-telling about Australia’s history and the dispossession of First Nations to create positive change and reconciliation between non-Indigenous Australians and First Nations peoples.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Acknowledgement of Country……1

Table of contents….. 2

About the program……3

About the Australian Rural Leadership Foundation…….5

About this report……6

Project Delivery……8

1. Position, case and context for change……10

2. Shared national impact……11

2.1. Leadership skills, characteristics, knowledge, and networks applied to drought……12

2.1.1. Development of locally focused and nationally connected leadership networks……12

2.1.2. Build resilience through leadership skills……14

2.1.3. Build resilience through leadership characteristics……17

2.1.4. Build resilience through climate and agricultural operational knowledge……21

2.1.5. Building resilience through goal setting skills……24

2.1.6. Apply drought leadership skills for the future……26

2.2. Diversity of experience……28

2.2.1. Benefits of leadership development for established versus emerging leaders……30

2.3. Diversity of sector……33

2.3.1. Build resilience within industry sectors……33

2.4. Diversity of demographics……36

2.4.1. Gender balance……36

2.4.2 First Nations……41

2.5. Diversity of regions……42

2.5.1. Each region and its participants are unique……42

3. Integrated approach……46

3.1. Build a network of national resilience through keystone leaders……46

3.2. Stronger peer and external networks……49

3.3. Greater leadership response to drought through combined leadership program and grant projects……51

4. Progressing the leadership journey…… 52

4.1. Supporting the long-term transition from personal to collective impact……53

5. The future: Mobilse the network for collective challenges……55

5.1. Taking action to enhance drought leadership……55

5.2. Activate impact opportunities, including mental health, industry impact, and community action ……57

6. Compliments, critique and realisation of target outcomes……59

6.1. Participant program feedback……59

6.2. Alignment to year one outcomes……61

6.3. Program delivery insights……63

6.4. What’s next…… 65

ABOUT THE PROGRAM

The Drought Resilience Leaders Program (DRLP) was delivered in 2021-22 by the Australian Rural Leadership Foundation (ARLF) in partnership with a multitude of other organisations based in rural Australia, including:

Rural Economies Centre of Excellence (ReCoe) supporting the monitoring, evaluation and learning program (MEL) and this report, Foundation for Rural Regional Renewal (FRRR) supporting Community Extension Grants, National Farmers’ Federation (NFF) supporting the delivery of the Drought Resilience Leaders Mentoring Program, Australian Resilience Centre, University of Southern Queensland, and Seftons supporting marketing and communications.

The DRLP focused on developing the leadership capacity and capability of individuals and communities, supporting them to come together to learn, collaborate and prepare for the impact of future droughts.

It was a $7.45 million investment under the ‘better prepared communities’ stream of the Future Drought Fund, which is an investment by the Australian Government to build drought resilience in Australia’s agriculture sector, landscapes and communities.

Drought resilience is a complex concept. There is no simple measure of resilience as it depends on context and therefore means something different to each person, farm, community and agricultural landscape. This is why tailored, and practical interventions are required to increase drought resilience – there is no ‘one-size fits all’ approach. Future Drought Fund investments are ultimately focused on building resilience through resources, practices and capabilities.

The better prepared communities workstream builds the capability of community members, leaders and organisations to drive local action to prepare for drought. People are more resilient when they are part of a supportive community network, and this has flow on benefits for driving changes in awareness, attitudes and practices.

Better climate information

Enabling farmers, businesses, and communities to better understand the climate risks they face and their resilience to those risks.

Better planning

Helping farmers and regions proactively plan for droughts.

Better practices

Developing and adopting farming and land management practices and technologies that improve resilience to droughts.

Better prepared communities

Building and supporting the community leaders, networks and organisations that underpin community resilience.

Figure 1: Future Drought Fund Drought themes (Source: Future Drought Fund Annual Report)

ABOUT THE AUSTRALIAN RURAL LEADERSHIP FOUNDATION

The Australian Rural Leadership FOundation (ARLF) is a not-for-profit organisation that develops leadership for the greater good of rural, regional, and remote Australia. Since 1992, more than 2,000 people have experienced the ARLF’s challenge-based learning programs, including the flagship Australian Rural Leadership Program.

People on our programs undergo a series of challenging, hands-on learning experiences, and periods of reflection. We act as facilitators of these experiences, rather than teachers, and lessons learned invariably come from engaging with other participants, building understanding and trust. It’s a unique way of learning, suitable for people from all backgrounds and most learning styles.

Over our three decades of developing leadership networks, we have also learned that real impact only happens when people work with others on shared goals, larger than any one person. That is why our leadership approach encourages people to act beyond themselves, work with others and facilitate change in their organisations, sectors, and communities.

Leadership, as we define it, isn’t about a role or position – that’s more about authority. Leadership is and can be practiced by anyone. It is collective and adaptive and can look different depending on place, community, and context. A leader is simply anyone who shows up for their community. This looks different in each community and quite often changes from day to day or project to project. We consider leadership to be a verb, a set of behaviours underpinned by certain principle - you don’t ever graduate as a leader. That’s why we have few h in our programs. You could be a mother, a teacher, a council wo farmer, school-leaver, or retiree. In fact, the only pre-requis positive impact in and for your community.

ABOUT THIS REPORT

The foundation phase of the Drought Resilience Leaders Program (DRLP) was an 18-month investment in the development of leadership capacity and capability in drought-vulnerable communities across rural, regional and remote Australia. The program was made up of four elements:

Drought Resilience Leaders Development Program (DRLDP)

delivered in 12 regions, Community Extensions Grants (CEG) to support participants to apply their leadership capabilities to enhance resilience in their communities,

Drought Resilience Leaders Mentoring (DRLM) a national mentoring program focused on people directly connected to agriculture, and a national webinar series.

The DRLP set out to measure the impact of these elements, both individually and collectively, by assessing the five outcomes from the DRLP Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) plan.

1. Strengthened drought resilience leadership skills and capabilities across diverse sectors.

2. Young leaders and emerging leaders share their (strengthened) drought resilience leadership skills and capabilities.

3. Farmers and drought and climate experts share their adaptation skills and knowledge with their peers.

4. Professional development outcomes realised for participants.

5. Community extension grants result in activities that are increasing public good.

The MEL framework established for the DRLP captured progress towards realising these outcomes. The evaluation involved a comprehensive analysis of the program's design, implementation, and outcomes. It used mixed methods, including surveys, interviews, and document reviews. The 10 survey instruments included over 750 unique metrics to provide over 120,000 points of data to inform this report. The survey instruments included application forms and commencement, midpoint, and completion surveys. This report is based on data captured between 1 July 2021 and 17 February 2023.

DRLP outcomes reflect the impact and potential of the program for individual leaders, local communities, the Australian agriculture sector, and Australia’s preparation for the impacts of future drought and climate variability.

Each participant brought their own life and leadership experience to the program, and because of this the experience and impact was different for each person. This report outlines ways in which people were affected by their participation through the use of 21 impact stories. Each impact story demonstrates the different ways in which the program outcomes were achieved. These impact stories have been grouped in this report into four categories.

1. National impact: Delivered in 12 regions, developing the leadership skills, characteristics, knowledge, and networks of a large and diverse participant group across Australia. Diversity is reflected in participant's experience and background, industry sector, demographics, and geographic region.

2. An integrated approach: Individually and collectively each program element enhanced leadership skills for for participants, including strengthened peer networks from the Community Extension Grants, enhanced external networks from the mentoring program, and the value of boundary-spanning roles across geographies and sectors.

3. Progressing each participant’s leadership journey: Through a focus on their personal development, their professional and career development, impact in their local community, and seeking out opportunities to work with others for wider collective impact.

4. The future - mobilise the network for collective challenges: The development of a network focused on the shared challenge of drought and the potential for future impact on related challenges.

PROJECT DELIVERY

PROJECT STRUCTURE: DESCRIPTION AND OBSERVATION

The DRLP was delivered through a national consortium of three organisations:

Australian Rural Leadership Foundation (ARLF) provided overall project leadership and definition, and delivery including primary delivery for the DRLDP; Foundation for Rural Regional Renewal (FRRR) supported Community Extension Grants; and Rural Economies Centre of Excellence (ReCoe) supported the monitoring, evaluation and learning program (MEL).

Additional delivery partners included:

the National Farmers’ Federation (NFF), which supported the delivery of the Drought Resilience Leaders Mentoring Program; the Australian Resilience Centre, which supported DRLDP program definition and delivery; the University of Southern Queensland and the Centre for Applied Climate Sciences (CACS), which supported program definition and content; and Seftons, which supported marketing and communications.

Benefits of the structure

The consortium structure provided for rapid and effective program delivery. Established networks were leveraged to support national scaling into a large number of regions. Specialist capability enabled rapid delivery while new systems were introduced to augment the existing ones. The experience of the partners, alignment of partner values and close working relationships from the start of the project allowed for an integrated and aligned approach.

Observations on the structure

While the consortium contributed to positive program outcomes, observations and feedback provide lessons for future projects:

Consortium management through the project lifecycle: The consortium relationships were strong at the project's initial stages of inception and definition, with frequent interactions and communication at leadership and operational levels. Resources shifted towards project delivery as the project advanced and new impacts emerged from weather events and the COVID-19 pandemic. Future projects could consider embedding a consortium management framework and resources through the project lifecycle.

Consortium role definitions: The consortium benefited from diverse and specialised capabilities among team members, building capability and capacity through new systems and processes within each organisation as a result of the project. Examples of where new systems were developed or expanded include internal evaluation processes and systems, community management platforms, and customer relationship management systems. While these benefits were identified through the project, future projects could consider a dedicated process for mapping assets, capabilities, and roles of consortium members and delivery partners.

PROJECT SCHEDULE

The project was delivered over 10 months from September 2021 to June 2022, not including program application and marketing. .

Central West Qld

Eyre Peninsula SA

GascoyneMurchison WA

Goulburn Valley VIC

Katherine Barkly Greater Darwin NT

Mallee VIC Murray Lands SA

North East Tasmania

North West Slopes and Plains NSW

Northern Wheatbelt WA

South West Qld

Western NSW

DRLM CEG

1 POSITION, CASE AND CONTEXT FOR CHANGE

The Drought Resilient Leaders program (DRLP) was delivered within the wider context of other Australian Rural Leadership Foundation (ARLF) programs, other leadership and drought programs, Australia’s history of drought, and a delivery environment that involved weather events and the COVID-19 pandemic.

The DRLP was delivered at the same time as other climate-related programs, innovation programs, and local leadership programs. This meant additional effort was required to clarify each program’s point of distinction and to ensure marketing and communication were clear. In addition to programs delivered by community groups and industry bodies, other national drought-related programs concurrent in the market at the time of initial release included:

The $66 million FDF Drought Innovation Hub program that established eight collaborative hubs across Australia with an additional two to six nodes per region to support farmers and communities to get ready for drought. This was designed to connect farmers with regional agricultural experts, innovation and new practices; and

The $11.6 million FDF Regional Drought Resilience Planning program to develop 23 regional drought resilience plans through eight state and territory government agencies and the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) to help regions prepare for and manage future drought risks.

Wider environmental issues during the life of the program included weather events, the impact of COVID19, and complimentary and competing programs and political narratives in the market. The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in changes to program delivery and participant experience. Planned DRLDP physical sessions were changed to virtual sessions, actual and potential illness affected participant's attendance and was a risk to DRLDP facilitator availability, and COVID-related issues impacted delivery of the grants.

Weather, particularly heavy rainfall, influenced the program from the perspectives of perception and delivery. The word 'drought' in the program name could be perceived as not as relevent based on a period of significant rainfall and flooding for many regions when program applications were open in the first three months of 2022.

This experience was not shared by all regions, with Tasmania experiencing the driest summer in 40 years in 2022 and parts of the South Australian Riverland still considering themselves ‘in drought’. This reflected the nature of climate variability in Australia and the expected continuation of extreme heatwaves and increased drought and intense rainfall events. The emphasis on drought in the program's name did not reflect the immediate lived experience of all applicants.

While these factors were anticipated in the program's design, they also highlight the need for leadership development related to resilience. The program is designed to teach resilience in times of uncertainty and change and to provide opportunities to practice these skills first-hand. Participants across the leadership and grants program reflected on pandemic and weather-related impacts and uncertainties, and their capacity to accommodate change through the process.

2 SHARED NATIONAL IMPACT

The DRLP is one of the most significant national leadership program investments made in rural Australia. During the program’s 18-month delivery schedule, over 618 participants developed personal skills and knowledge to take back and apply in over 474 towns and suburbs across Australia. The program developed participants’ personal capabilities and established a national network of more than 3,219 connections. These connections include relationships between each member of the 12 DRLDP cohorts, CEG project team members, and mentor-mentee relationships. The impact of the program outlined in this report highlights the personal and community resilience developed by participants and communities, with a focus on the individual and collective leadership response to drought.

This section on shared national impact includes 13 impact stories that highlight the capabilities and capacity developed by individual participants and their wider networks. The impact stories include a description of the diverse participant groups by personal demographics and experience. Participants' narratives in each impact story show examples of how the learned capabilities and capacity result in current and future potential outcomes.

The figure below reflects the number of participants completing each of the program streams.

Drought Resilient Leadership Development Program (DRLDP) 224

Drought Resilient Leadership Mentoring (DRLM) 311

Community Extension Grants (CEGs) 64

DRLDP and DRLM 6

DRLDP, CEG and DRLM 4

Figure 2: DRLP work streams and participation

2.1 LEADERSHIP SKILLS, CHARACTERISTICS, KNOWLEDGE, AND NETWORKS APPLIED TO DROUGHT

The impact stories below highlight the leadership skills and capabilities developed by participants through their engagement across the four elements of the DRLP.

2.1.1 DEVELOPMENT OF LOCALLY FOCUSED AND NATIONALLY CONNECTED LEADERSHIP NETWORKS

Program: DRLDP, DRLM, CEG

The DRLP set out to develop and connect leaders from rural, regional and remote communities across Australia. Over 3,000 connections were made between more than 600 leaders in the course of the program’s first 18 months. These networks were both localised through the clustering of 12 leadership program cohorts and grant projects, and boundary-spanning across the nation through the mentoring program's design.

The design of the mentoring matching process connected mentors with mentees from different natural resource management regions to maximise national connections and minimise the chance of connection with a mentor who was already in the mentee’s network. This probably contributed to the “stronger peer and external networks” rated by participants in both the DRLDP and DRLM (see section 3.3) as well as the 11% increase in ratings for "connecting with rural, regional, and remote communities” by DRLM participants (see section 2.1.4).

Figure 3 shows connections made through the program across Australia based on the participant’s residential town or suburb. The blue connections are based on DRLM participation, while the green connections are based on DRLDP participation. Red connections are based on the delivery of CEGs.

Figure 3: Over 3,000 connections were made between more than 600 leaders in the course of the program’s first 18 months

IMPACT STORY

COWORKING FOR CONNECTIVITY – CREATING LOCALLY FOCUSED AND NATIONALLY CONNECTED LEADERSHIP NETWORKS

Having seen the way drought can infiltrate a community, 40-year-old Tamworth businessman Sam Treloar is a passionate advocate of increasing the resilience of regional and rural towns against all the different challenges they may face.

Sam founded DPARTMNT, a co-working space in Tamworth which attracts an array of people from the community and beyond. He created it with the aim of “cultivating a space that brings together people from all across our community. The space put us in touch with a bunch of other people doing fascinating things in Tamworth and outside of Tamworth”.

Sam signed up for the DRLDP out of a passion for his hometown, having grown up there and returned about a decade ago. “In my community I see good times are good and the bad times are really bad and I was keen to see the preparations for the next inevitable drought… so my interest in the course was born out of concern and curiosity for what people in communities do and don’t do when things are good to prepare for when they aren’t”, said Sam.

“You don’t need to be in mental health first aid or employment services to know that drought is having a devastating effect on the community, personally as well as economically.

That said, the DRLDP gave Sam new insight into how devastating the drought was, and an understanding of how passionate a lot of people on the land are.

“It really did bring a lot of people together that didn’t know each other. What is happening in different communities in NSW is very similar but there isn’t necessarily much interaction between them. There were lots of people from different sections of the region there and it was a tremendous way to bring people together around some powerful models and content.”

Sam is looking forward to the ‘snowball’ effect from the program, as the connections and experience start to convert into more outcomes down the track.

DRLDP, Outcomes 1 & 2

2.1.2 BUILD RESILIENCE THROUGH LEADERSHIP SKILLS

Program: DRLDP

The DRLDP program was designed to bring people together to practice, develop, and enhance leadership skills that provide for greater levels of personal, community, and network resilience. Participants reflected on the development of intangible skills including self-confidence, presenting to others, and storytelling. The evaluation framework also assessed the leadership skills of critical thinking, collaboration, diverse stakeholder management, mobilising talent and staff, communication, conflict management, complexity, ethical leadership, working with diverse stakeholders, and working with other leaders.

These leadership skills were assessed through surveys at the start of the program and on completion. The surveys asked participants to consider the extent to which they developed each of the leadership skills. Figure 4 below shows the average participant rating for each leadership skill on completion of the program and the average change in ratings from start to completion.

Participants’ ratings of their skill development increased by an average of between 3% to 12% across all leadership skills.

Figure 4: Leadership skills developed through the DRLDP

The program delivery approach facilitated the development of collaborative leadership skills. This is reflected in the participants’ highest self-rated skills at program completion: working with others, working with diverse groups, and collaboration. Other skills development may reflect the knowledge gained and application of knowledge, as seen in those with this greatest change: critical thinking, mobilising talent and building staff capabilities, and managing conflict.

Top rated skills at program completion

Others: Comfortable in working with other leaders.

Diversity: Comfortable in working with people who are different to me.

Collaboration: Able to build enduring relationships, collaboration and partnerships.

Skills with the greatest change

Critical: Thinks critically and gains insights into key issues.

Talent and staff: Mobilises talent and builds capabilities of staff.

Conflict: Manages conflict effectively.

Table 1: Top rated leadership skills and leadership skills with the greatest change

Female, 29 years - Comfortable in working in complex, uncertain and dynamic environments

“My area of growth is that I feel more confident to be able to approach complex issues within my community. I have become more open to others’ opinions and ideas, and it has changed the way I look at leading others and I am now working with my community to develop a community resilience workshop.”

Female, 41 years – Communicates with influence

“ The impact I realised is a greater perspective in modifying language to communicate effectively with others. My future plans are to take collaborative approaches so communities are not having to reinvent the wheel and give producers the tools to make positive changes on farm to be proactive in their preparation for the next drought.”

Male, 25 years – Thinks critically and gains insight into key issues

“ Thinking critically of the bigger issues and implementing environmental sustainability principles for myself and my business."

2.1.3 BUILD RESILIENCE THROUGH LEADERSHIP CHARACTERISTICS

Leadership characteristics in the DRLDP program were assessed using 21 indicators aligned to the ARLF’s six leadership practices: action, affiliation, advocacy, awareness, authenticity, and adaptation. These indicators of leadership characteristics were created for the program and assessed through surveys at the start and conclusion of the program. The surveys asked participants to consider the extent to which the characteristics described them at the time they responded to the survey.

While all participants reported an increase in at least one characteristic, some participants also experienced a decrease across a number of indicators. These self-assessed decreases point to personal development as much as the increases do, as described through participants' reflections on their experience. As awareness grows of characteristics to be developed, and as new knowledge is applied, it is normal to feel uncomfortable during periods of growth.

Change in leadership context

First, participants experienced a change in their leadership context throughout the program duration, reassessing their leadership skills and attributes as they moved into areas of increasing responsibility and accountability. Skills and attributes that supported them in one context may no longer be effective as they move into roles requiring new capabilities. Through the program, some participants moved into new roles and initiated new projects that may see them re-evaliuate their leadership.

Program: DRLDP

Figure 5: ARLF 6A framework

Awareness of definitions and concepts

Second, participants gained a greater awareness of definitions and concepts. A participant’s initial self-assessment of their leadership skills and attributes is conducted within the context of their own understanding of leadership definitions and concepts. The program content builds on and in some cases challenges the participant’s understanding which may cause them to re-evaluate their initial response. While this was mitigated to some extent by the commencement survey being completed at the end of the first day, a shift in understanding was still reflected in the qualitative narratives of participants. Examples include a greater awareness of diversity, an understanding of the definition of a leader, and acceptance as they changed their perspective on their role as a leader in their community.

"I felt I wasn’t a leader but after the program I realised this is not true. I can lead my community… If I don’t do, who will?"

Advancement in new leadership role

Third, a participant may progress in their leadership stage. While each participant was exposed to the same content, the impact of the content varied depending on each participant’s background and current situation. Some participants reflected greater changes in their individual leadership approach, others in their work or professional setting, and others in their overall community and collective impact.

“I have started reaching out for support and contacts, particularly when trying to pull a grant proposal together on a topic that is way beyond my comfort zone and knowledge.”

Figures 6 and 7 show the average participant rating for each leadership characteristic at program completion and the average change in ratings from program commencement to program completion.

Participants provided the highest ratings (on average) at program completion for indicators relating to adaptation, awareness, and authenticity, while characteristics that were rated as having the greatest increase related to adaptation, awareness, and advocacy.

Top rated characteristics

Adaptation: Can see the value in working with people who are different to me.

Awareness: Understand that my behaviour has an impact on the thoughts, feelings and reactions of others.

Authenticity: Receive and remain open to feedback and learn from failure.

Characteristics with the greatest change

Adaptation: Can see the value in working with people who are different to me.

Awareness: Understand why other people respond the way they do and behave in relation to my own behaviour.

Advocacy: Share and promote my support for causes that will make a difference for others.

Table 2: Top rated leadership characteristic indicators and leadership characteristic indicators with the greatest change

Female, 31 years – Adaptation: rely on tried and tested situations in every situation

“I applied because I think this program could be invaluable to help me direct and develop my ideas further into something more tangible that could really build a fantastic community wider than just Bourke, Brewarrina and Cobar. The program has allowed me to grow in creative thinking to come up with unique solutions to common problems and see new ways forward to solve community problems.”

Female, 24 years – Affiliation: work with others to achieve projects that have shared objectives

“The impact of the program was in the connections made as the most valuable part of the experience. My future drought leadership focus is to be a part of a collective that works together on the adaptive challenges to help the community.”

Figure 6: Leadership characteristics related to Action, Affiliation, and Advocacy developed through the DRLDP

Female, 53 years – Action: set personal goals and work progressively to achieve them

“This program has given me confidence to pursue my goal of helping as many rural people as possible to learn resilience skills. I have since started having conversations with key people to help me deliver my vision and am networking and researching the best way to deliver resilience skills to Western NSW rural families.”

Male, 61 years – Authenticity: consistent in how I communicate with and collaborate with others

“I applied to promote and facilitate resilient and sustainable agriculture to local farmers. The actual impact has been that I am looking at situations with a different perspective, finding myself listening better and then being more collaborative in my approach to the situation. The skills that I learned are definitely front of mind now both in my private life and work life. My future plans include resilience awareness and planning, drought planning education, and community awareness of mental health issues.”

Figure 7: Leadership characteristics related to Awareness, Adaptation, and Authenticity developed through the DRLDP

2.1.4 BUILD RESILIENCE THROUGH CLIMATE AND AGRICULTURAL OPERATIONAL KNOWLEDGE

Program: National webinar series, DRLDP, DRLM

The DRLP program was not intended to provide technical skills related to drought preparedness and agriculture operations. However, the program did deliver content related to climate and drought-related agriculture operations through webinars and speaker presentations. The webinars were promoted to all DRLP participants and were available to the general public. Between 27% and 29% of webinar registrations were participants in the DRLP.

DRLM participants were asked about the benefits they received from program content delivered through webinars and learning sessions. These benefits included personal self-development, personal leadership development, personal health and wellbeing, agricultural operations, ability to network and share skills and knowledge with peers, creating new networks outside of my current community, understanding of climate related impacts, drought preparedness and resilience, connecting with rural regional and remote communities, personal goal setting, and professional or organisational goal setting.

1: Lessons learned from drought - How we can build resilience in rural communities

4: Trial and error – What happens when fail? Handling adversity for success

3: Impacts and predictions –How agriculture can take advantage of a changing climate

2: Inclusion and diversity – Why there is a place for everyone in agriculture

5: Health and wellbeing – How we can support each other in rural communities

6: Innovation and adaptation –How agtech solves problems on the ground

Figure 8: Webinar participation

DRLM participants who registered for the webinars rated their “understanding of climate-related impacts” and “drought preparedness and resilience” as 7% to 10% higher value than DRLM program participants who did not register for the webinars. The practical knowledge of agriculture operations and climate impacts led to a shared understanding of the common challenge of drought.

Figure 9: Difference in ratings for mentor program participants who registered for webinars

IMPACT STORY

‘BUFFERING CAPACITY’ - MENTORING CLIMATE AND AGRICULTURAL OPERATIONAL KNOWLEDGE

Sophie Milic left her corporate communications career behind to return to her family’s walnut farm in Tasmania’s Coal Valley.

“We were energised by the prospect of having our own business, of working on the land and of being the masters of our own destiny - but we didn’t go into it being too romantic, we knew we would have to work hard and take on risk when buying a farm”.

Sophie joined the DRLM as a mentee, wanting “to be able to bring something to the table on the horticulture side of things, to upskill and have a robust understanding of farming, and also have someone to speak to about the contemporary approaches to horticulture that I can start to bring into the business. I don’t know what I don’t know - the ability to spend time with someone who has so much experience in the industry and understand the issues and what I need to be across is so valuable.”

Sophie was recently elected to the committee of her local farming organisation, the Coal River Products Association, allowing her to share lessons learned in the program with others in her local farming community.

“Drought resilience is about much more than water, it is about good business planning, identifying risks and having a backup plan for low rainfall; a strong business model to cope with any shock - drought or natural disaster or market failure - any of those things we are faced with in farming”.

Sophie’s mentor, Mary Retallack, agrees that resilience in business and the environment requires the building up of “buffering capacity”. As an agroecologist and viticulturist based in South Australia’s Adelaide Hills, Mary’s worked in the wine industry for more than 25 years.

For Mary, mentoring offers the opportunity to have a real impact on someone achieving their potential, as well as paying forward the information and wisdom others have shared with her.

DRLM, Outcomes 3 & 4

2.1.5 BUILD RESILIENCE THROUGH GOAL SETTING SKILLS

The DRLP emphasised practical action and a focus on future change across the three programs, including the action-orientated CEGs, planning for future drought activities in the DRLDP, and goal setting and future planning in the DRLM. The DRLM program asked participants to rate the impact of the program midway through and at the end against six indicators based on the mentoring relationship and 11 areas based on program content.

On completion of the program, nearly 88% of participants rated the impact of the mentoring relationship as high or significant impact for “helping to frame questions and options for consideration in the future”. The rating increased from the midpoint of the program by 17%. For the completion assessment of “support with goal setting processes”, 81% of participants rated the indicator as significant or high impact, with an increase from the program's midpoint to completion of 11%.

Program: DRLM

Figure 10: Benefits realised from mentoring relationships (orange) and content (blue) for mentor program participants

IMPACT STORY

TRANSITIONING FROM EMPLOYEE TO MANAGER: FINANCIAL GOAL SETTING

Kaleb is a 25-year old third generation dairy farmer, running a family business in regional NSW. He left high school and completed a mechanic’s apprenticeship before returning to the family farm. Since COVID19, the business has been 'flat out'. Following the mentoring program, Kaleb’s been looking to “learn a lot from being an employee to now managing employees”. He’s been involved in a local young dairy farmers network, but that has been more of a social get-together. “I don't see myself as a mentor, so I don't really go out there and try and mentor people... I'm always the person to sit back and listen,” he says. As a firsttime mentee, Kaleb was matched with an experienced agribusiness mentor, and this certainly helped. With staffing being such a “big issue in the dairy industry… I've been trying to learn and work on understanding all the money side of the business”, says Kaleb. Evening Zoom meetings with his mentor “found some really strong discussion points” as the mentor was “very knowledgeable about goal setting” and someone Kaleb would definitely “like to keep in contact with”.

DRLM, Outcomes 1-4

2.1.6 APPLY DROUGHT LEADERSHIP SKILLS FOR THE FUTURE

At two points in the program, participants were asked to describe the drought leadership skills they had applied in the past and planned to apply in the future. The application of these skills included: personal behaviour such as confidence, improved storytelling and decision-making; professional development including business application and farming practices; community engagement including collaboration, networking, and leading projects and events; and social change, with focus areas including support for First Nations advocacy and mental health awareness.

Female, 52 years – Advocacy: Stand up for personal beliefs and values

“I applied to position myself to be a strong advocate for regional and rural renewal. I am keen to build a network of successful rural economic and community capacity builders, to learn from their experiences and to share that knowledge for the benefit of my community. I am about to step up to a chair position on a board in June - I have more confidence now that I can do it. I have taken on a policy role with a political party with the goal of influencing change at a system level by ensuring rural issues and solutions are brought into the light. Looking forward, I want to be a strong advocate for my community/region to get LGA and state government support in times of drought.”

The word cloud below shows the weighting of leadership skills and areas of focus that DRLDP participants planned to apply in drought response in the future once they had completed the program. Top areas for activities considered for their future included plans to "lead events", engage in new "conversations" with other stakeholders, and actively "share knowledge".

Strategy Community-impact

Boundary-spanningCreate-awarness

Communication

Resilience

Lead-events

Build-skills-in-others

Local-community-development

Client support

Learn

Story-telling

Conversations

Collaboration

First-Nations

Bring-community-together

Networking

Connections

Farming-practice

Lead-projects

Listening Decision-making

Mental-health

Engagement

Extension-services

Critical-thinking

Share-knowledge

Support-grants-or-funding

Program: DRLDP

Figure 11: Weighting of leadership skills and areas of focus DRLDP participants planned to apply to future drought response

IMPACT STORY

DRLDP, Outcomes 1-3

“The industry I am in is in horticulture, which can have a negative stigma in terms of its water use. One of the motivating factors to undertake the DRLDP was understanding how people in other industries are affected by drought, understanding their problems and knowing how to have conversations with them in regard to potential conflict.

“And then also the leadership skills were what I really wanted to gain because I highly value those and can see the value of that in the community.”

While water hasn’t been front of mind in the community since Harry arrived in the Goulburn Valley, he is aware that when it is dry, water is talked about a lot more.

The leadership and other soft skills the DRLDP have helped him develop will not only assist Harry in leading his current community through a drought, but are also transferable to any region where he might work in the future.

The program has also developed a potential network of people willing to make changes if or when they face adverse environmental conditions in the future.

“The ability for people who are complete strangers to come together and the change that can create, I thought that was quite powerful. It made me realise that if a community comes together, they can all make a big change if they all work together.

‘COMPLETE STRANGERS COMING TOGETHER’: LEADERSHIP SKILLS FOR FUTURE COMMUNITY IMPACT

2.2 DIVERSITY OF EXPERIENCE

Each participant brought their own life and leadership experience to the program. The program built on participants’ prior leadership skills and for some people provided their first leadership program. One of the criteria for selecting DRLDP regions was to assess whether other leadership programs had recently been delivered or were currently on offer. This was intended to provide leadership development opportunities to those who may not previously have had access to them and to avoid DRLDP programs competing locally for participant registrations. Over 54% of leadership program participants and 64% of mentoring program participants had not been a part of other leadership or mentoring programs when they applied.

Previous program experience was related to the participant's age. As would be expected, younger participants were less likely to have taken part in leadership programs. DRLM participants in their 20s and 30s were less likely to have participated in a previous mentoring program than DRLDP participants.

Figure 12: DRLDP participants' first leadership program versus past program experience by age of participant

Figure 13: DRLM participants' first leadership program versus past program experience by age of participant

2.2.1 BENEFITS OF LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT FOR ESTABLISHED VERSUS EMERGING LEADERS

Program: DRLDP, DRLM

DRLDP participants with prior leadership program experience rated a higher personal and community impact from the program and an equal impact for professional impact compared to first-time program participants. Leadership program experience also contributed to the participants’ leadership response to drought.

Figure 14: Ratings of DRLDP participants who had previous leadership program experience as compared to the average program participant rating

DRLM participants with prior mentoring program experience reported a 15% greater impact on improving agriculture and business operations, an 11% greater impact on exploring industry challenges and future opportunities, an 8% greater impact on helping to frame considerations for the future, and a 4% greater impact on addressing the effects of drought on business and community. First-time mentoring program participants reported a 5% greater impact on goal-setting processes and contribution to regional, rural, and remote Australia.

The results reflect the stage of a participant’s life and career as much an influence from previous programs. They highlight the need to ensure a pipeline of participants, engaging new leaders who can benefit from new leadership concepts and practices such as goal setting and networking in their first programs as well as experienced leaders who apply their knowledge to industry and future challenges.

Male, 40 years, DRLDP outcomes 1, 2, 4: Expanded horizons from a first-time leadership program

”This was my first leadership-anything so it gave me great insight how the dynamics of these groups work. Growth is inevitable in such an environment of strong minds and the willingness to work together.“

Figure 15: Difference in DRLM participant ratings based on previous mentoring program experience compared to the average program participant rating

IMPACT STORY

YOU BACK YOURSELF MORE: LEVERAGING

LEADERSHIP EXPERIENCE

54 year old Michelle has tried her hand at many ways of living on the land across diverse regions. In doing so, she has participated in a variety of leadership programs. Her very experienced mentor's “wealth of knowledge” has been able to complement this training with some terrific “bonus yarns.” Phone conversations were the “way to go” despite considerable obstacles to meeting face-to-face due to COVID19 and their residences being separated by 400km. The mentor offered plenty of suggestions which “if you just listen to it, some of it might work … a lot of it may not, but it gives you a different way of going”. These alternative perspectives were enhanced by the “really interesting” webinars, watched on replay “when it's raining and cold”. Michelle's experience with mentoring meant she now faces the next drought “completely different than before… more knowledge and understanding gives you more leadership confidence within yourself, backing yourself a bit more.

2.3 DIVERSITY OF SECTOR

2.3.1 BUILD RESILIENCE WITHIN INDUSTRY SECTORS

Program: DRLP

The program attracted participants from diverse industry sectors. Over 30 sectors were represented across the three program streams. Participants in the DRLDP identified with an average of 2.1 industry sectors per participant. Each of the 12 DRLDP cohorts represented an average of 14 different industries sectors, ranging between a low of nine sectors and a high of 19 sectors.

The participants were evenly distributed across the sectors, with beef and cattle sectors representing 15% and 13% of the participants, respectively. Sheep represented 14%, grain 11%, and education and training rounded out the top five sectors at 11%. Over two-thirds of DRLDP participants worked in primary agriculture sectors and one-third of participants worked in support sectors including financial services, health care, local government, and education and training. This cross-section provided diverse perspectives while common backgrounds provided for shared learning.

Figure 16: Industry sectors nominated by DRLDP participants (by count)

Program: DRLDP, DRLM

Figure 17: Industry sectors nominated by DRLDP participants (by percentage)

IMPACT STORY

DRLDP, Outcomes 1-3

TAKING OTHER PEOPLE ON THE JOURNEY: BUILDING SECTOR RESILIENCE

Andrew ‘Juddy’ Judd is a native Londoner cum Winton local and part of a team building an oasis in the desert, which he hopes will serve as both a meeting place and a fresh-food hub.

After going through the DRLDP he joined forces with other participants and gained funding through the Community Extension Grants to start a community garden, The Two Ducks Project.

As recently as May 2022, the town of Winton was still classified as being ‘in drought’.

Over the years there have been programs to help pastoralists and property owners during tough times. While these have provided important financial assistance, Juddy identified that there hasn’t been a program that offers wider-ranging support to the broader community who are also feeling the effects of drought.

“It’s not just property owners or pastoralists who are affected by drought, it’s everybody in the community. And it’s not just financial, it impacts people’s mental health too. During the initial COVID breakout, I’d done quite a bit of research into happiness, and one of the things that led me to happiness was gardening because you see the fruits of your labour. It gets you out in the fresh air and anyone can do it, you don’t have any special skills."

Juddy had turned his hand mid-career to the ambulance service and more than a decade later found himself taking a year-long contract as a senior paramedic in Winton. That year turned into two and in December 2021, Juddy accepted a permanent position in the town.

On applying for the DRLDP, Juddy questioned whether the term 'leader' quite fit with him, but since completing the program he’s changed his tune.

“There was one particular part of the course that struck a chord with me. That was explaining the difference between leadership and authority. You don’t have to be in a position of authority in order to be a leader. A leader is someone who takes other people on the journey with them.

2.4 DIVERSITY OF DEMOGRAPHICS

2.4.1 GENDER BALANCE

Program: DRLP

Females represented 78% of participants in the DRLDP, 83% of the participants in the CEG program, and 52% of mentors and 63% of mentees in the DRLM program. The only demographic segment where males had greater representation across the three programs was in male mentors aged 31 to 40 and over 60. Gender representation also played a role in mentoring matching, with 9% of DRLM mentee applicants stipulating a preference for a female mentor and 4% of applicants preferring a male mentor.

Figure 18: DRLDP participants' age and gender

Figure 19: DRLM mentor participants' age and gender

Figure 20: DRLM mentee participants age' and gender

Figure 21: CEG mentoring participants' age and gender

Male and female representation was close to equal for employment roles of director, executive, and founders. Male participants had a significantly larger representation for managers and women had a moderately larger representation for employees. Notable is the 14% of women participants who designated “other”, with descriptions of roles including a wide range of side projects and positions, volunteering, and home care. Female applicants also reported a 10% greater involvement in community positions.

Program: DRLP

This gender representation may reflect wider social trends of women advancing in education and capability, while a higher proportional representation of males in leadership positions remains. Another factor that may have contributed to the program’s gender representation includes potential applicants' availability to participate in the program based on their operational employment roles. The gender distribution may also reflect acquisition approaches which can rely on personal networks, where personal invitations and taps on the shoulder play a key role in attracting participants.

Figure 22: DRLDP participants' employment position

IMPACT STORY

Kate Smith will soon graduate with a Bachelor of Agriculture and already has a swag of agronomy experience under her belt. The 24-year-old has plenty of options to kick off her career in earnest next year, but she’s making sure she considers how she could be impacted by future droughts before making her decision.

“As an agronomist you need to consider that in the next drought you might not have agronomy work, so you need to choose a company that can move you or the like. I’m starting off in a very wet year, but I’m aware it won’t be long until the next drought”.

It was while Kate was working as an agronomy trainee out of Moree in 2021 that a work colleague recommended the DRLDP. The course involved many people further along their career path than Kate, which surprised her, but she said it was still “fantastic”. “There were practical sessions. We had one on conflict resolution in the workplace which was really useful for everyone. We had one on storytelling that was all about telling people your story effectively and quickly. And we did a lot of alternative activities that I definitely wouldn’t have done prior to the program - mindfulness, meditation, colouring - which was really interesting.”

Currently living on the mid-north NSW coast, Kate’s personal experience with drought is limited, but she describes it as being “in the back of everyone's minds” in the region. “It was the reason people’s families were not living there or people had moved away, but people were so happy with their crops this year that they opened up about the experience.” Having heard a variety of opinions and ideas from the mix of people doing the DRLDP, Kate is now thinking ahead to the next time drought occurs, planning and preparing for the inevitable.

IN THE BACK OF EVERYONE'S MINDS: FLOURISHING YOUNG WOMEN LEADERS

DRLDP, Outcomes 1-4

IMPACT STORY

LIFE COACH MENTORING: SHARED WISDOM

Pamela is an experienced community leader whose parents both grew up on farms, firmly believing that regional Australia is the “beating heart of this country”. Now 64, she’s been actively involved in mentoring programs over the last 20 years and sees the need for leaders to be “change agents, able to tell a story that people can see themselves in”. Pamela was matched with a young rural businesswoman who had just accepted a contract job on an interstate solar farm. Rather than provide technical mentoring, Pamela saw her primary task as a life coach mentor, suggesting proactive ‘homework’ exercises at the conclusion of their meetings. For Pamela, “about half my time is doing stuff gratis because I care… a lot of my friends say to me, you're mad, you're 64. Why don't you just go and play golf or something? But that's not me”.

DRLM, Outcomes 1 & 4

2.4.2 FIRST NATIONS

First Nations representation made up 5% of the DRLDP and 4% of the DRLM. This representation was regionally focused, with 14% of the DRLDP Gascoyne-Murchison WA cohort, 13% of the DRLDP Katherine Barkly Greater Darwin NT cohort, and 11% of the DRLDP Western NSW cohort identifying as Indigenous. The completion rate for First Nations participants was 60%, slightly lower than the average of 67%.

While First Nations representation may be reflective of general populations, maintaining the status quo would not address current inequalities. Indigenous participants represented 2% of DRLM mentors, and only one participant in the CEG program identified as Indigenous. Representation greater than the standard population would be seen as necessary to ensure increased representation across all aspects of the program.

IMPACT STORY

CONSIDERING ALL WALKS OF LIFE: FROM PERSONAL TO COLLECTIVE IMPACT

Dominic combines his passion for agriculture and his Indigenous heritage to produce food that celebrates his culture and makes a difference for others in his community.

He describes his introduction to the DRLDP much the same as the way he started out in other areas of his life; he saw a good opportunity, so he took it. “It got advertised so I just signed up. I had no idea what I was in for. But it has definitely taught me different leadership styles. It subjected me to uncomfortable situations causing growth.” He added that the reason he liked taking leadership courses such as the DRLDP was because it helped “improve how I serve people”.

Dominic says the whole community has “gone through it” when it comes to drought, and they’ve also been hit by other adverse weather events.

“We live in the Riverland, and the only thing that keeps us alive is the Murray system. We’ve had minimal water go through in recent years and that puts a big strain on the system. A lot of people don’t understand that the weather systems are changing, massive storms go through, crop damage has been part of it. It’s about adapting, but farmers are good at that.”

At his produce business, Dominic has planted drought-resilient species that can survive the harsh conditions of the desert, as well as being frost and pest resilient and requiring minimal water once established.

“If there is no rain or too much rain then we have issues. The first year I planted I got hit by hail twice, big rains came and knocked all the leaves off. But luckily most of the plants I have become stronger because of it.”

And so have Dominic and the community around him, especially after coming together for the DRLDP.

“At the start it was quite confronting, all coming together to chat about a scenario. Everyone has got their opinion. There were people talking and people leading and it was a different approach to what I was used to. At the farm, I just make decisions by myself, and this way we were taking into consideration all walks of life. It was quite draining but in a good way, to see what is actually going on in the communities, that there are people making ground and there are a lot more like-minded people than I thought.”

DRLDP, Outcomes 1, 3-5

2.5 DIVERSITY OF REGIONS

2.5.1 EACH REGION AND IT’S PARTICIPANTS ARE UNIQUE

Program: DRLP

While the curriculum and approach for the DRLDP was consistent across the 12 regions, there were also a large number of variables. Program delivery variables include the speed of delivery, the program scoping and definition process, program rollout, facilitator onboarding, timing between programs, timing between delivery of the three program streams, inclusion of local guest and stories, and marketing and communications in each region. These were designed to be consistent but there was some variation between cohorts.

There were also participant variables related to factors including the makeup of collective shared experience in the participant cohort, diversity in demographics and profession, and individual experience in leadership, drought, and resilience. Program-specific variables include venue, delivery format, and facilitators' characteristics such as their relationship to ARLF, local relationships and knowledge, and facilitation capability. Finally, there were a variety of local contexts including collective experience with drought, other significant economic and social impacts, previous leadership programs delivered in the region, and the region's population density.

COVID-19 also had an impact with some regions heavily affected during the application period. This had a bearing on the number of applications and graduation rates. Government restrictions led to fewer people completing programs due to illness of participants or family members and staffing pressures on businesses giving people less flexibility to attend sessions.

Applied: 19

Graduation rate: 58%

Applied: 14

Graduation rate: 50%

Applied: 27

Graduation rate: 74%

Applied: 24

Graduation rate: 63%

Region 1 Eyre Peninsula SA

Region 2 Gascoyne-Murchison WA

Region 3 Goulburn Valley VIC

Region 4 Katherine Barkly Greater Darwin NT

Applied: 32

Graduation rate: 44%

Applied: 31

Graduation rate: 48%

Applied: 39

Graduation rate: 77%

Applied: 42

Graduation rate: 67%

Applied: 22

Graduation rate: 77%

Applied: 43

Graduation rate: 67%

Applied: 27

Graduation rate: 63%

Applied: 30

Graduation rate: 70%

Region 5 Mallee VIC

Region 6 North East Tasmania

Region 7 Murray Lands SA

Region 8 North West Slopes and Plains NSW

Region 9 Northern Wheatbelt WA

Region 10 South West Qld

Region 11 Western NSW

Region 12 Central West Qld

Figure 23: DRLP participation demographics by region

The cohorts were reviewed to consider how responses to questions about impact and leadership skills in each cohort differed. While the results are based on a representative sample, smaller numbers of responses such as the five responses in Region 2 can disproportionately skew the results. Reasons for variances are difficult to isolate, as they could be because of the cohort's composition, facilitator-cohort relationship, and collective background experience in the region.

Program: DRLP

However, we can conclude that responses may reflect a shared experience by participants in a given region. This diversity contributes to the strength of the network and reinforces the need to maintain the greater national network connection. In the same way as each participant in a cohort learned and connected with others, it would be beneficial to connect cohorts nationally so they could learn from diverse experiences.

Figure 24: DRLDP participant completion survey responses by region: personal, work, and community impact, networking, and drought leadership impact.

IMPACT STORY

On 2 November 2021, a diverse group of 21 passionate locals from different walks of life came together in Barcaldine for the first session of the DRLDP. Known as the birthplace of Qantas and where Banjo Paterson wrote 'Waltzing Matilda', Central West Queensland is a thriving economic centre. Australia’s largest beefproducing region is also home to cotton, grain and fruit production, as well as mining and resources.

While the region’s businesses primarily support the agricultural economy and the communities that serve it, towns in the region supply to goods and services, including essential healthcare services.

It is anticipated that longer and more frequent droughts in the region combined with fewer wetter recovery periods will lead to reduced forage cover and carrying capacity. These environmental conditions have a direct impact on the economic viability of the region.

With a focus on developing leadership for drought preparedness and resilience, the program was an opportunity for people to build relationships and networks, learn from one another and build their capacity to influence, shape and lead. What was common to all people was the strong desire to give back to their community. As a result, many applied for Community Extension Grants to deliver local initiatives and share knowledge gained through the program.

3 INTEGRATED APPROACH

The integration of the leadership, grants, and mentoring program elements resulted in outcomes that reflected the combined influence of the different elements.

First, participants who took part in multiple programs also had the effect of spanning boundaries, connecting individuals and cohorts across program streams.

Second, participants in the leadership and mentoring programs were more likely to report a significant impact in their peer and external networks.

Third, participants in the leadership and grant programs were more likely to see an added significant impact in their leadership response to drought.

This section on the integrated approach outlines the value of participants’ shared program experience through impact stories that demonstrate thesw three results.

3.1 BUILD A NETWORK OF NATIONAL RESILIENCE THROUGH KEYSTONE LEADERS

Program: DRLP

As well as developing individual leaders, the program created a network of leadership capacity with the potential for an exponential impact. Over 30 leaders participated in multiple program streams or acted as mentors for more than one mentee. These leaders spanned roles and regions to act as “keystone” roles, acting as a foundational networking and connection function across many networks.

It is also acknowledged that many of the participants provide a foundational or “keystone” function within their local community or industry outside of the DRLDP program. Individuals in these keystone roles often hold leadership positions on multiple boards and community groups and act as hyper-connectors between industries and geographic communities. Participants in the DRL acted in an average of 3.3 community positions each in addition to their primary employment, with half of the participants supporting four or more community positions.

Figure 25 below shows the network connection between participants. The blue dots are DRLM participants, characterised by one-on-one connections and with some mentors supporting more than one mentee. The green dots represent DRLDP participants, with each cohort forming a tight network cluster. The red dots represent participants in the CEG programs, integrating with their DRLDP cohort.

Program: DRLP

Two additional hybrid roles in the network include participants in both the DRLM and the DRLDP (light blue) and the DRLM and the CEG (orange). These roles had the potential to cross into other network clusters through mentoring conversations and relationships.

The graphic is helpful in illustrating the connectivity achieved through the program. However, it is also acknowledged that the program did not occur in a closed system. Each participant came with their own additional network, creating an exponentially increasing network of impact.

Region 1

Applied:

Graduation rate:

Figure 25: DRLP network connections between participants in regional groupings

IMPACT STORY

LEADING FROM BEHIND: KEYSTONE LEADERS SPANNING SECTORS

Suzie Jacobs has not only survived drought and the 'milk crisis', but came out the other side a leader in her community. Based in Ballendella, Victoria, Suzie now works for the Rural Financial Counselling Service and believes the key to drought resilience is shared knowledge and being aware of all the options: “Even though it feels like the end of the world, it is not. There are networks and connections to call on. You aren’t on your own”.

Suzie began her drought resilience journey by volunteering, delivering food hampers to fellow struggling farmers, before working for Rural Aid and now with the North East Rural Financial Counselling service (AgBiz Assist).

“Because of the drought we made the business decision [in 2019] to stop dairy farming because we could no longer afford to buy fodder. At that time, I was working off-farm for Murray Goulburn trading, so I was seeing other farmers come under stress from drought and we were suffering as well. We just weren’t prepared to go into any more debt to keep going with dairy farming.”

“After working with Rural Aid I was fascinated by building resilience. What I wanted to do is help people build capacity and resilience in tough times. There is life after farming, and the silver lining is I can now really focus on helping others.”

Suzie has since studied agriculture and counselling, as well as completed the 2020 Loddon Murray Community Leadership Program, which she describes as “life-changing”.

“I had a different view of leadership before I did the community leadership program. I thought leaders were people who climbed the ladder to the top, and had an agenda. But then I realised it was those that lead from behind, it is the last person in the room, the listeners, the empaths, the planters of seeds of possibility, those people that support and walk beside you, they are leaders.”

As a DRLDP Goulburn Valley participant, Suzie has spanned many regional sectors and observes that “the more people that share in the leadership, the more resilient we will become. Shared knowledge, understanding, connection and collective wisdom is needed to build drought resilience. I have learned so much and think now I understand I can deal with it better. If it doesn’t kill you it makes you stronger.”

DRLDP, CEGS Outcomes 1, 3-5

3.2 STRONGER PEER AND EXTERNAL NETWORKS

As shown in Figure 26, DRLDP participants rated the impact of the program on their “ability to network and share skills and knowledge with peers” and to “engage with new networks outside of their current community”. DRLDP participants who also engaged in the DRLM were more likely to rate the program’s impact on networking with peers as a large or significant amount (80% of respondents) and engaging with new networks as a large or significant amount (93% of respondents). The DRLM significantly influenced the perceived impact of the program on participant's peer and external networking.

Figure 26: Participant networking impact from participation in multiple programs

IMPACT STORY

NOT THROWING THE BABY OUT WITH THE BATHWATER: ENHANCING COLLABORATIVE RESPONSES

Jody is a Central West Queensland grazier and mother working alongside her parents and brother on the family's grazing operation, which spans three properties. She’s created a peer-to-peer support network from the ground up that focuses on improving drought resilience through implementing regenerative principles.

While Longreach had been drought declared for more than 15 of the past 20 years, she said it wasn’t until she was left holding the fort that her concerns about climate change and the ever-drying seasons spurred her further into her regenerative agriculture journey.

Jody’s parents purchased a property on the Fraser Coast as part of their climate risk strategy and moved there for a year to get it set up. Jody’s year of trialling techniques such as moving stock more frequently and being conscious of spelling country, produced positive results and she knew it was time for more change.

“It was a combination of ‘this appears to be working’ and me reaching a point where I was no longer willing to carry on managing under those conditions if I wasn’t able to pursue those principles. I was becoming increasingly concerned about temperatures and the way seasons were going, so for me to be comfortable that the operation was sustainable, we needed to implement new practices”.

Which brought Jody to the DRLDP, and an opportunity to expand both her networks and her knowledge. “In the team-building exercises, I found myself networking with people I would have never met, let alone worked with. I learned a lot from that, and it was a great reminder not to throw the baby out with the bath water. Even if we have ideological differences, there can still be some interesting synergies that come from those interactions.”

When Jody first started the DRLDP, she knew she wanted to expand on her idea with a focus on climate action and using regenerative agriculture to look after the country better. The Regenerative Rangelands project was Jody's brainchild which had formed before she completed the DRLDP, but the program allowed her to kick it into gear.

Jody teamed up with four fellow DRLDP alumni and used their Community Extension Grant funding to build the Regenerative Rangelands project.

It started online, with a Facebook page and then YouTube and Instagram channels, before growing to a two-day field day and forum, a landscape rehydration demonstration trial site, and a suite of digital media resources.

DRLDP & CEG, Outcomes 1-5

3.3 GREATER LEADERSHIP RESPONSE TO DROUGHT THROUGH COMBINED LEADERSHIP PROGRAM AND GRANT PROJECTS

Participants rated the impact of the DRL program on their “leadership skills and capabilities in response to drought”. Those who also engaged in the CEG program were more likely to rate the program’s impact on their leadership response to drought as somewhat, large, or significant amount (91% of respondents).

Figure 27: Participant leadership response to drought impact from participation in multiple programs

4 PROGRESSING THE LEADERSHIP JOURNEY

Participants reflected on their expected and actual outcomes from the program. These related to their personal development, their profession or career, their local community, and a wider collective impact. Collective impact is the shared efforts made to address complex challenges beyond the capacity of any single organisation or individual, requiring multiple and diverse groups to have a meaningful impact.

The survey questions were designed to capture the participant's journey from intent and expectations to actual observed impact and then to future planed change. Collective impact is often a long-term goal and cannot be expected to be realised over a few weeks or months. Participants were also in different stages of their leadership journey, with some starting their awareness of personal or professional leadership impact while others were established leaders exploring community or collective engagement.

This section on Progressing the Leadership Journey focuses on the participants' progression through two Impact Stories relating to participants’ development in personal, professional, and community focus areas and their journey towards future potential collective impact.

4.1 SUPPORTING THE LONG-TERM TRANSITION FROM PERSONAL TO COLLECTIVE IMPACT

Participants in the DRLDP reflected on the program’s impact in areas related to personal, professional, career, community, and collective impact. Comparing participants’ aspirations as stated in their program application with their reflections on the actual impact once they completed the program highlights their progress and the opportunities to make an impact in the future.

When they applied for the program, close to half of the participants wanted to have an impact that related to their community, such as by supporting their local towns. Just over 20% of the participants wanted to focus on collective impact, working with others to address complex challenges such as youth engagement, support for First Nations communities, or supporting functions in the community such as police or health. Professional and career aspirations made up 17% of the focus areas, relating to work performance or industry sector. Their personal aspirations, such as learning skills or developing leadership capability, made up the remaining 13%.

On completion, 79% of participants had realised personal impacts. This is to be expected given the program's focus and the short time between the two data collection points. However, the aspirations expressed by the participants' future responses to drought demonstrated continued progress towards community and collective impact.

Female, 40 years – Awareness: understand the political, environmental, and social factors influencing my community

”I applied to the program to build my knowledge and skills across the key components of the program to then have an influence on the communities and industries which I am involved in personally and professionally. Through the program, I have started thinking about the bigger picture and social, environmental and economic impacts before trying to address what I think the problem is. Even though we are in the opposite of drought at the moment, my future response to drought involves thinking of the community as we respond rather than individually.”

Figure 28: DRLDP participant application goals and actual impact

IMPACT STORY

WITHSTANDING SHOCKS: SHARED WISDOM FOR COLLECTIVE IMPACT

Ellen Litchfield, a vet, Nuffield scholar and pastoralist on Wilpoorinna Station, via Marree, has spent many years studying the impacts of drought and most of her life living through it.

“The reality in Australia is that we have already had resilience to drought and that comes from having either a high equity business or working off-farm. Most farmers need to have non-weather dependent income. Australia is a country of boom and bust cycles especially where we are and drought resilience means it shouldn't be a shock or an outlier, but we should be creating a business model that can withstand those shocks.”

Ellen works with industry across the state through her role with Farmers for Climate Action and to her being drought resilient is the ability to stay on the land.

Her Nuffield scholarship travels took her to rangeland grazing properties across the world. Working on her family’s pastoral lease, she got plenty of insights into how further resilience to drought could be built. Technology, and putting value on pastoralists' role as caretakers of the land, will be two main drivers.

“That means payments for results-based ecosystems services. It needs to be results based so as not to stifle innovation - but it is a really exciting growth area for farmers in the future, especially rangeland farmers.”

“Farmers for Climate Action for instance is a really good network of farmers leading the voice on climate action, and climate policy is going to be a big driver of how ag will look in Australia in the future, so it is important farmers are at the table for that discussion”.

Her vision for a drought-resilient Australia is a country that is “doing all that it can to ensure we are decreasing emissions and not creating anymore climate change impacts”.

5 THE FUTURE MOBILISE THE NETWORK FOR COLLECTIVE CHALLENGES

Drought provides a shared and central focus across the elements of the DRLP. While not all participants had direct experience of drought, all could connect to drought-related impacts, either personally or through other participants. Other areas in which participants identified challenges related to drought included support for First Nations communities, addressing impacts related to mental health, connecting to industry-specific opportunities, and supporting local community outcomes. The program has created a network of people across rural Australia who have a new perspective on how they can lead their community to prepare for future droughts.

5 .1 TAKING ACTION TO ENHANCE DROUGHT LEADERSHIP

Participants in the DRLDP identified their past and future leadership responses to drought at the start of the program and on program co mpletion. This section includes impact stories that highlight two groupings of participants who changed perspectives through the program.

The first grouping expressed inaction and uncertainty at program commencement and progressed to action at program completion. Many participants moved from positions of uncertainty or lack of direct experience in drought response. In some cases, these participants progressed to sharing skills learned through the program with their community and engaging in new networks. Other participants focused on a particular aspect of the community, such as support for mental health.

Past drought leadership response at program commencement

"I haven't had to use any for drought leadership as yet (only been in country for a few years)"

Desired future drought leadership response at program commencement

"I am unsure at this stage"

Past drought leadership response at program completion

"None as yet"

Desired future drought leadership response at program completion

"I am adapting to change and providing skills from this program to the community"

Past drought leadership response at program commencement "I haven't had the opportunity to respond to drought directly yet."

Desired future drought leadership response at program commencement "Support community members, advocating practices to mitigate effects of drought through effective extension activities."

Past drought leadership response at program completion

"I hosted an online water management workshop for small landholders"

Desired future drought leadership response at program completion

"Provide mental health support for communities during drought - assist with programs that enhance mental fitness."

action

Figure 29: Participant response to drought – inaction to action

Figure 30: Participant response to drought - inaction to

The second grouping of participants expressed experience in leadership responses to drought at program commencement and proposed further opportunities to mobilise the network for future challenges on program completion. These participants expressed the intent to build on these experiences for greater collective impact.

Past drought leadership response at program commencement

I started a farm using drought tolerant trees/plants and using technologies."

Desired future drought leadership response at program commencement

"Applying a community response."

Past drought leadership response at program completion

Working with the community towards a common goal to help more people and have positive changes for the environment.

Desired future drought leadership response at program completion

"I would love to see more native farmers that will help the environment and have bigger socio - economic changes."

Past drought leadership response at program commencement

"I have presented a positive image of the Outback to newcomers and visitors to the region through self-initiated presentations."

Desired future drought leadership response at program commencement

"I would want to train more people in taking a leadership role in various areas."

Past drought leadership response at program completion

"I am planning large community events."

Desired future drought leadership response at program completion

I am planning further networking between small and large institutions and community groups."

Participants' responses to past and desired drought impact were reviewed and themed to understand the nature of the change. The short timeframes between the commencement and completion surveys meant that participants were still identifying future drought leadership opportunities. Those opportunities that were identified focused on project leadership, development in their local towns, sharing of knowledge, and connections.

Figure 31: Participant response to drought – greater collective impact

Figure 32: Participant response to drought – greater collective impact

Scan to watch impact story from Western NSW

5.2 ACTIVATE IMPACT OPPORTUNITIES, INCLUDING MENTAL HEALTH, INDUSTRY IMPACT AND COMMUNITY ACTION

The DRLDP focused participant’s attention on the central topic of drought. Within this focus, participants combined their perspectives and lived experience with drought and climate information and other participant’s ideas and backgrounds to develop new strategies. The diversity of these strategies is evident in the Community Extention Grant project impacts.

Of the 28 CEG projects submitted, all had completed final reports at this time of this report. The project reports were analysed to consider the impact on community resilience against six dimensions: social, individual, institutional, infrastructure, economic, and environmental. The 38% of projects that focused on the social dimension brought communities together, facilitated social engagement, and built strengths in networks. The 31% of projects that related to individual resilience developed personal skills and raised awareness of mental health.

The 13% of projects that supported the institutional dimension of resilience established new major events in the community and built capacity in not-for-profit organisations and their networks. Infrastructure dimension related projects, making up 9%, developed existing and new community assets such as a community garden. The 7% of projects that related to the economic community resilience dimension supported business skills including financial literacy and developed assets for agritourism, while the project that related to the environmental dimension of community resilience created assets and a demonstration site for resilient landscapes and highlighted opportunities for emerging markets.

Figure 33: Community resilience dimensions impacted by Community Extension Grants

The format of the projects included events, workshops, physical sites, and promotional activities and assets. The audience for the projects included young people, women, business owners, the not-for-profit sector, farmers, and local communities. In addition to the wider reach of awareness from the promotional activities, the events and workshops delivered through the CEG projects directly engaged over 1,400 people. Half of the CEG participants indicated they will seek further funding and support to continue their projects.

While these outcomes were documented as part of the CEG project, similar projects were mentioned through the DRLDP and DRLM program participant responses in their completion surveys when they reflected on planned leadership responses to drought.

"Work with my community to develop a workshop (grant submitted) for a Business Basics and Community Resilience Workshop"

"I have taken on a policy role with a political party with the goal of influencing change at a system level by ensuring rural issues and solutions are brought into the light."

"I have volunteered to run the Landcare Instagram page in my own time, to use my social media skills to support them extending their work out."

"As a group we have started to construct ideas that share purpose and vision across the region and therefore are likely to be resource efficient and well supported."

"I've stepped up my role in our ag research business in finance and people."

Scan to watch impact story from the Northern Wheatbelt, WA

6 COMPLIMENTS, CRITIQUE AND REALISATION OF TARGET OUTCOMES

6.1 PARTICIPANT PROGRAM FEEDBACK

Participants across the DRLP streams of DRLDP, DRLM and CEGs gave feedback on their experience in the programs, using a number of indicators. Participants provided quantitative feedback using a scale of 1 to 10 across different aspects of program delivery, including: facilitation, venue, content, online, grants, and overall. Participants also gave a “Net Promoter Score” of the likelihood that they would promote and refer the program to someone else.

Facilitation and content were rated strongly across the DRLDP and DRLM programs. Where there were lower ratings for the DRLDP, they reflected individual preferences such as reflecting for or against interactive yoga sessions or wanting more theory or technical information in the content.

"Amazing and patient facilitating, opportunity to speak to like minded people." [DRLDP]

"The standard of these presenters was not something I would normally have been able to access and left me wanting more." [DRLDP]

"The combination of webinars and mentoring, providing the mentee with lots of resources and different learning platforms." [DRLM]

"I have had an amazing experience with my mentor and following the sessions. Has been very helpful in my day-to-day work and made me a lot more confident in my role" [DRLM]

The online experience was rated lower particularly for the DRLDP, although several participants acknowledged the reality of delivering the program during COVID-19. The DRLM used an additional online platform called Mighty Networks for communication. The Mighty Networks platform received mixed reviews, which would be expected for a new online platform requiring learning and change.

"Face-to-face was great, speakers engaging, zoom was good by online workshops standards, I like the working together on grant ideas." [DRLDP]

"Online is hard because other people don’t think you are necessarily doing something face to face is great because you are away from other influences." [DRLDP]

"The online portal, monthly webinar series, and new online connections worked well."[DRLM].

"I found Mighty Networks a little hard to navigate in the beginning but once I got use to it I was fine getting around it." [DRLM]

"The venue was a rating unique to the DRLDP and reflected the in-person experiences. The awesome venue on country - I felt so connected to this magical landscape. The outdoor classroom I felt helped us learn so much easier and connect better." [DRLDP]

Participants in the CEGs provided feedback on a scale of 1 to 5 in areas of grant information, application process, grant submission, assistance and support, timing, and project closure and acquittal. Strengths in the program were identified as the information about the grant, the application process, the grant submission process, and assistance and support. Participants highlighted the timing as a challenge, with the dependency of the DRLDP schedules and CEG submission requirements placing pressures on the timing of grant applications. The timing challenges also related to feedback on project closure and acquittal.

"Short lead-in to implementation of the project after being awarded the grant. This was compounded by another wave of COVID-19 in the region."

"Biggest challenge was trying to successfully complete project within the grant timeline. especially after having to cancel first set dates due to COVID-19."

"The grant enabled me to step up and use my leadership skill. It was a real boost to my confidence and I would love to be involved in do another project again to support the future of agriculture."

"The grant really helped me to practice and develop the skills learned during the leadership program. It broadened my thinking and approach to engaging and communicating with the communities I was working with."

Figure 34: DRLDP and DRLM participant program feedback

6.2 ALIGNMENT TO YEAR ONE OUTCOME

The program set out to achieve five outcomes in year one. These outcomes are demonstrated through the impact stories in this report. The table below summarises the alignment of the impact stories in this report to the five outcomes.

Outcome 1: Strengthen drought resilience leadership skills and capabilities

Outcome 2: Young leaders and emerging leaders share their (strengthened) drought resilience leadership skills and capabilities

Outcome 3: Farmers and drought and climate experts share their adaptation skills and knowledge with their peers

Outcome 4: Professional development outcomes realised for participants

Outcome 5: Community extension grants result in activities that are increasing public good

Figure 35: CEG participant program feedback

Development of locally focused and nationally connected leadership networks

Build resilience through leadership skills

Build resilience through leadership characteristics

Build resilience through climate and agricultural operational knowledge

Build resilience through goal setting skills

Apply drought leadership skills for the future

Diversity of experience

Increased value for first-time leadership program participants

Build resilience within industry sectors

Gender balance

First Nations

Diversity of regions

Build a network of national resilience through keystone leaders

Stronger peer and external networks

Greater leadership response to drought through combined Leadership Program and Grant projects

Support the long-term transition from personal to collective impact

The future: Mobilise the network for collective challenges

Taking action to enhance drought leadership

Table 3: Alignment of year one outcomes to impact stories

6.3 PROGRAM DELIVERY INSIGHTS

While this report highlights outcomes realised for participants, there is also a need to reflect on the broader context in which those outcomes were realised. The DRLP delivery was a result of a collaborative approach by three organisations: the Australian Rural Leadership Foundation, the Foundation for Rural Regional Renewal, and the Rural Economies Centre of Excellence at the University of Southern Queensland. Each organisation scaled its teams and networks through additional facilitators and partners, including the National Farmers’ Federation, the Australian Resilience Centre, and local stakeholders on the ground in each region to deliver the three integrated streams of the DRLDP, DRLM, and CEGs. The investment in this capital has been maintained for future programs.

As highlighted in section 1, other simultaneously run Future Drought Fund programs competed for participants' attention. These pressures were in addition to weather conditions including flooding, the uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic, and related impacts of access to staff to support the program definition and rollout. In the face of these program pressures, the collaborative team adapted and created systems to support rapid delivery at a national scale. The pressures of expedited schedules and environmental pressures impacted each stage of the three programs. Reflections on these impacts provide lessons for future programs.

Resourcing to be responsible for the national impact and place-based development

The DRLP was a national program through the DRLM and combined impact of the DRLDP and CEGs, as well as a place-based program through the local DRLDP and CEGs. The national remit created the potential for the DRLP to act as glue to connect drought-related programs. The place-based DRLDP and CEG programs provided an intervention in the region, building capacity and creating opportunities for future potential.

In practice, there were limited connections between the different Future Drought Fund programs and support for greater ongoing connectivity. While there were examples such as a Drought Innovation Hub leader participating in the DRLDP or a CEG project aligning with a Drought Innovation Hub strategic activity, these are isolated examples and were not designed into the overall FDF portfolio.

There was also a lack of commitment to future support for local leaders, creating the risk of a drop-in and drop-out program in the region. The value of the program is in creating the networks as much as individual leadership capability. There could be seen to be a duty of care to maintain the learning networks and support the ongoing place-based development.

Future programs may consider investing in greater connectivity between related programs, ensuring newly developed learning networks are maintained, and supporting investment in local leadership capability and projects.

Positioning of drought and leadership

The concept of drought was experienced and interpreted differently by different DRLDP participants, requiring flexibility in the program's facilitation. Many participants saw drought as a proxy for climate, while others had not experienced drought for several years. Still others expected more technical information about drought. The sessions focused on the concept of disruption and positioned drought as one of many impacts on community resilience and psychological wellbeing.

Future programs may consider legitimising the diverse impacts of climate variability on communities and emphasising future preparedness rather than an emphasis on drought.

Accelerated timing

The schedule affected all aspects of the DRLP, including region selection, DRLDP and DRLM participant attraction and selection, and program and CEG projects. The integrated nature of the DRLDP and CEGs in particular required participants to learn about the CEG program, identify a project, connect with potential project partners, apply to participate, and deliver the project in short timeframes. This challenge was experienced differently across different programs based on the CEG funding rounds.

Future programs may consider managing dependencies between the grant and leadership program processes for consistency and to allow sufficient time for project onboarding and delivery.

Funding individuals versus organisations

The CEG program was designed to provide funding for individual DRLDP participants. While directly funding individuals had the benefit of supporting personal ideas, this approach required the participant to take on responsibilities such as securing insurance and overall project management potentially making it less likely that some applicants applying for grants. It also increased the administrative burden for background checks. An alternative approach would be to provide funding for organisations that would be more likely to have prior project management experience and administrative requirements such as insurance.

6.4 WHAT’S NEXT

The purpose of this Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Report report is to present the information collected through the program delivery to understand whether the DRLP realised the outcomes it set out to achieve. The report provides a further opportunity to reflect on the information from the past 18 months and develop observations for the future.

The first section of the report highlights the shared national impact, reaching into more than 400 towns to develop over 600 leaders and create over 3,500 connections. These leaders have developed a shared language around leadership, a shared understanding of the impacts of drought, and created new local and national networks.

Review how the network of leaders created during the DRLDP be maintained, developed, and expanded.

The report highlights the diversity of participants across gender, geographies, First Nations status, leadership program experience, and industry sectors. The program reached many areas of the Australian demographic and geographic landscape. However, representation in participation does not equate to representation in outcomes or leadership impact. While First Nations participant representation reflected the general population, they were underrepresented in CEG projects and mentors. Young women were strongly represented in the program, but there was a disproportionately strong representation of older men as mentors and a lack of young men developing leadership capabilities. The program had significant geographic distribution, with regions selected based on profiles of drought and prior programs, but resilience principles are needed across all areas of regional Australia.

Review opportunities to intentionally address representation for demographic profiles including older women mentors, younger male emerging leaders, and First Nations in particular for active leadership roles.

Review opportunities to expand the program across further geographic regions.

The second section on the integrated approach highlights the outcomes realised by integrating the DRLDP, DRLM, and CEG initiatives. The holistic nature of the three streams contributed towards increased peer and external network impact and application of drought leadership. The results also point to what may not be achieved if programs do not have practical projects and built-in mentor networks. These outcomes provide insights for the development of future leadership programs.

For future programs, consider building in all three elements of personal and cohort-based leadership development, practical collaborative projects with funding, and a national network of sector-relevant mentors.

The third section of the report highlights the progression of the leadership journey through focus areas of individual development, work and career impact, community outcomes, and overall collective impact. This journey occurs over years, if not decades. What was observed in the DRLDP is that the program was experienced by each participant at different stages of their journey, and that the program facilitated progress through awareness, connections, and practical application. This provides an opportunity to consider the overall lifecycle of the collective network’s progress and to maintain support and development as everyone in the network grows in their leadership capability and impact.

Maintain connection with participants and support each stage of their leadership journey through ensuring awareness and providing additional development programs and opportunities to step into collective impact projects.

The fourth and final section of the report discusses future opportunities to mobilise action. The DRLDP used the topic of drought as a shared challenge to focus attention. The feedback from the program was that the impacts of climate variability resonated with participants, with all acknowledging that drought will be a recurring challenge for Australia. Through the DRLDP, participants highlighted projects and challenges relevant to them, found others through the network with shared visions and challenges who could lend their diverse skills, and provided a framework for projects to put ideas into action. With the network and framework established, there is an opportunity to build on the network capability to facilitate further challenges.

Leverage the network to address related and emerging challenges raised during the DRLDP, such as mental health, workforce attraction, resilient farming practices, and First Nations support and development.

I am drought

I am all I see the crusty dirt paddock aching for fresh crystal clean water.

The ferocious dust whistling around the gorgeous blue sky.

I am all I hear, trees whistling in the wind as if they’re dying of thirst.

I am all I feel, bone dry and weary.

The massive cracks forming on my surface hurt my insides like a giant has scratched me all over.

I am all I remember, how the country used to be lovely, luscious green now, musty brown all over.

I am all I smell, dry wind rushing past and me wishing it could be replaced with the sweet smell of rain.

I am all I wonder, why we can’t go back to the beautiful world we knew…. Soft cool grass, tall leafy trees.

I am like an indestructible raging rush, destroying everything I see. But I can’t stop myself. Why does it have to be me? Why was I created?

Written by Amelia, 10, as part of the CEG Project ‘My Drought Story’

Australian Rural Leadership Foundation

3/24 Napier Close, Deakin ACT 2600

PO Box 298 Deakin West ACT 2600

T. (+61) 2 6281 0680

E. info@rural-leaders.org.au

W. rural-leaders.org.au