DPIRD’s new leader: Heather Brayford keen to ‘bring people together’ to drive sustainability and profitability

The new leader in charge of the investment of millions of dollars into agriculture, food and fisheries has placed biosecurity, research and development, and sustainability at the top of her list. Heather Brayford started her new role as the director general at the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development on November 1, and she couldn’t have been more excited. Her more than 30-year history with the State Government was stark contrast to predecessor Ralph Addis, who was named director general at the Department of Regional Development in 2014 with nearly no experience as a bureaucrat after years in the private and non-for-profit sectors. Her most recent role was as the deputy director general of sustainability and biosecurity within DPIRD – a role she took on after WA Labor’s machinery of government changes in 2017. The changes rolled together the Departments of Agriculture and Food, Fisheries and Regional Development as part of a plan to reduce the number of departments from 18 to 14. She is the first female to lead DPIRD and it is also understood there has never been a female leader at what was formerly called the Bureau of Agriculture when it was established in 1894. Ms Brayford was born in Kellerberrin and grew up in Armadale and Byford, with a father “heavily involved” in the trotting industry, meaning she felt “more like a country kid than a city kid” and also helped her family to run a chaff cutting and chaff carting business. “I spent a lot of time signing up a lot of chaff bags and jumping on the back of a truck and delivering them around the place,” she said. Armed with a Bachelor of Science from Murdoch University, she joined the Department of Fisheries as a level one graduate assistance 1986. She also holds a Master of Business Administration, is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, and was a recipient of the 2020 Queen’s Birthday Public Service Medal for outstanding public service to legislative reform and policy development in WA. Ms Brayford has spent most of her working life in Perth, bar nearly three years as the head of fisheries in the Northern Territory between 2007 and late 2009. She spent more than two decades in various roles across the Department of Fisheries in WA, and was appointed the director general in 2014 before the machinery of government changes in 2017. At that time, Ms Brayford was named one of the deputy director generals sitting under Mr Addis, taking on the highly important sustainability and biosecurity portfolios. The other deputy directors general include Cec McConnell (Primary Industries Development), Paul Isaachsen (Industry and Economic Development), and Louise Williams (Corporate Services managing director), while recruitment process is under way to fill Ms Brayford’s former role in Biosecurity. Ms Brayford regards the six years she spent as a non-executive director of the Fisheries and Development Corporation as one of her other most important professional achievements. As the director general of sustainability and biosecurity, Ms Brayford was responsible for about 800 staff – describing it as being involved in nearly all of the fisheries portfolio and the half of the agriculture and food portfolio that did not involve research and development. “The work this department does is so important to the community, and it affects everyone. From the food we eat, to the environment, supporting businesses, managing natural resources, recreational fishing, and regional communities… our reach is far and wide,” she said. “I have a very strong commitment to the department and the public service... so the role was a natural fit for me and one I am very excited to take on.” Ms Brayford heralded biosecurity, rebuilding and maintaining research and development in DPIRD, and sustainability as her key priorities for WA’s $12 billion agriculture industry. She takes the role at a time when all State Government departments are working to slash emissions by 80 per cent by 2030, a move WA Premier Mark McGowan announced in June. WA Agriculture Minister Alannah MacTiernan in April announced $4.2 million to transition DPIRD’s Sheep Feed Intake Facility at Katanning to carbon neutrality by 2030. “We are working closely with industry to look at how you can reduce emissions, while maintaining and increasing productivity and value… we need both of those things for businesses,” Ms Brayford said. “Long-term sustainability across the triple bottom line – social, economic and environment – is paramount. It is about long-term, sustainable development.” Ms Brayford said climate change would be a “key priority and focus” in her role, with DPIRD “deeply engaged” with developing its own Climate Action Plan. “The Katanning Research Station is a good example of where we are seeking to test a range of practices and systems to reduce greenhouse gas emissions at that property,” she said. “That is an important project for us. Personally, I have a strong commitment to sustainability and it is always going to be front of mind.” When asked what was important to her as a leader, Ms Brayford said “bringing people together”. “That is what I thrive on… I like to build strong relationships internally, but across industry, government and community, there needs to be a strong environment of trust,” he said. “I want a department and organisation that is valued and respected for the work we do and the benefit we provide… which is a broad reach and touch across the State.” A big part of her focus would be on developing solid relationships with WA’s nine regional development commissions as well as bolstering respect and value of the department. “I have a very strong internal focus on developing the department as a respected department, working on our values, behaviours and culture to support our stakeholders,” she said. Ms Brayford said she could not believe more strongly in the work DPIRD did. “It has extreme variety, it is complex… we deal with matters of deep public interest,” she said. “That is what draws me to the role, just the importance of what we do and the community reach.” DPIRD has been in a period of rebuild during the past five years, with $127.8m set aside for research, development and innovation in the State Budget in 2022-23, including $25m for the WA Agricultural Research Collaboration to drive research in partnership with the CSIRO and four WA universities. At the end of September, there were 1899 permanent and fixed-term employees at DPIRD. Staff morale at DPIRD was called into question in 2019, when a survey was leaked to the media. Only 12 per cent of respondents said they would recommend DPIRD as an employer, and 80 per cent said they did not believe the executive understood “the role and business of all DPIRD areas”. It came after the Liberal-National Government slashed 40 per cent of jobs at the then-Department of Agriculture and Food, with staff numbers dropping below 900 in a period when it had three ministers in charge in three years. Ms Brayford said she believed now was an exciting time to be with DPIRD, with better collaboration across the department, an uptick in State Government investment, and new infrastructure. She said the selection of former Soils and Land Commissioner Cec McConnell as the deputy director of primary industries in July was a “great appointment” that had been well-received by industry. “I really see the department on an upward trajectory, I have been here since day one,” she said. “I really want to provide stability for staff and to the department moving forward.” Ms Brayford takes the reins from Mr Addis, but Terry Hill had been acting in the role during recruitment by Public Sector Commissioner Sharyn O’Neill, who recommended Ms Brayford. Mr Hill will return to his prior role as the head of the Pilbara Development Commission in November.