Australian Wool Innovation Scott Carmody and Stephen Hill to its executive team in a bid to improve efficiency

Australian Wool Innovation has appointed two industry stalwarts to their executive team in a bid to increase the organisation’s efficiency and deliver better outcomes for wool growers. Scott Carmody, who was a trade consultant for the not-for-profit for more than 15 years, was appointed head of domestic operations. He will take on the direct reports of the general manager consultation, general manager research and general manager grower services and market intelligence. Stephen Hill was the second appointment to the executive team, an internal promotion to general manager international — an expansion of his previous role which includes becoming a conduit between overseas operations and head office. Chief executive John Roberts said the “outstanding” appointments are part of a wider restructure to reduce his number of direct reports from 18 to four, allowing him to focus on strategy and deliver better outcomes for wool growers. “This adjusted structure provides the business with a new and consolidated approach to how we build strategy going forward and collectively develop tactics to enable us to deliver on our objectives,” he said. AWI has made significant cuts from the wages budget since mid-2023 — reducing the number of employees globally from 153 to 133 today — in line with the downsizing of the Australian wool clip. Mr Roberts said it has been a “challenging and sometimes unnerving” time for many within the AWI business. “The nature of our levy system means that when wool growers do it tough so do we,” he said. “Challenging seasonal conditions and consistent low prices continue to drive primary producers out of Merino sheep and into more lucrative farming enterprises, and as a result our revenue suffers, as does our ability to fund projects. “I remain hopeful that the need to downsize further will be limited and we will see wool prices and production increase.”