Operating structure

Previous ACIAR regions and partner countries

ACIAR is established by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research Act 1982 (ACIAR Act), as amended, and it is an agency of the Australian Government Foreign Affairs and Trade portfolio.

ACIAR is a non-corporate Commonwealth entity under the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013 and a statutory agency under the Public Service Act 1999.

ACIAR has an executive management governance structure headed by the CEO, who reports directly to the Minister for Foreign Affairs.

The CEO manages the administrative and financial affairs of ACIAR and its staff, subject to, and in accordance with, any directions given by the Minister. An executive team supports and advises the CEO on strategic priorities and corporate and operational policies.

The CEO is supported by an Audit Committee, which provides independent assurance to the CEO on financial and performance reporting responsibilities, risk oversight and management, and systems of internal auditing of ACIAR.

Also established under the ACIAR Act is the Commission for International Agricultural Research (the Commission), which provides collective decision-making and expert strategic advice to the Minister on the operations of ACIAR; and the Policy Advisory Council, which provides advice to the Minister on strategic aspects of national and regional development.

ACIAR CEO

Chief Executive Officer
Professor Andrew Campbell FTSE FAICD

The CEO is directly responsible to the Minister for managing the affairs of ACIAR, in a way that provides proper use of the Commonwealth resources for which the CEO is responsible. As agency head, the CEO is also responsible for managing the agency with direct accountability to the Australian Government.

Professor Andrew Campbell was appointed to the role of CEO on 31 July 2016, and reappointed to the role for another 2 years in June 2021. Andrew has played influential roles in sustainable agriculture and natural resource management in Australia for more than 30 years. He has a Diploma of Forestry from the Victorian School of Forestry, Creswick, a Bachelor of Forest Science (Honours) from the University of Melbourne and a Master of Science (Management of Agricultural Knowledge Systems) from Wageningen University in The Netherlands. Andrew is an elected Fellow of the Academy of Technology and Engineering, Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and an honorary Professorial Fellow at the Australian National University.

ACIAR Executive

Chief Finance Officer
Ms Audrey Gormley

The Chief Finance Officer is responsible for providing strategic financial advice to the organisation, in addition to managing human resources, business services (information technology), procurement, legal, property and other corporate activity.

Ms Audrey Gormley joined ACIAR in July 2017 and has over 30 years experience in all facets of finance and accounting both at strategic and operational levels, working in investment banking and insurance sectors before joining the Australian Government. Prior to joining ACIAR, Audrey was Chief Finance Officer at Food Standards Australia New Zealand for over 10 years. She holds a Bachelor of Commerce from University College Dublin and is a Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants.

Chief Scientist
Dr Daniel Walker

The Chief Scientist oversees the strategic science focus of the ACIAR research portfolio and its impact assessment, monitoring and evaluation work. The Chief Scientist also provides leadership for research program managers across 10 research areas, and oversight of our relationship with the Australian innovation system.

Dr Daniel Walker joined ACIAR in November 2017 to take up the newly created role of Chief Scientist. Prior to ACIAR, Daniel spent 23 years at CSIRO, where he was Research Director for Agriculture and Global Change with CSIRO Agriculture and Food and previously, Chief of CSIRO Ecosystem Sciences. Daniel has a Bachelor of Science (Honours) in agriculture, forestry and rural economy from the University of Edinburgh and a PhD from the University of Wales.

General Manager, Country Partnerships
Dr Peter Horne

The General Manager, Country Partnerships is responsible for leading and setting the partnership approach for ACIAR country (bilateral) programs, managing the ACIAR Country Network, and leading the engagement with key research partners and stakeholders overseas.

Previously, Dr Peter Horne was Research Program Manager for Livestock Production Systems for ACIAR. Peter has spent most of his career based in Asia, involved in agricultural research-for-development with a particular focus on forages and livestock systems. Peter has a Bachelor of Science (Honours) in environmental sciences from Griffith University and a PhD in tropical forage agronomy from University of New England, Australia.

General Manager, Outreach and Capacity Building
Ms Eleanor Dean

The General Manager, Outreach and Capacity Building leads the development and implementation of the ACIAR outreach strategy, and leads and directs a team responsible for ACIAR communications, stakeholder engagement, capacity building and outreach activities.

Ms Eleanor Dean has worked in public affairs and communication for the Australian Government for more than 25 years on a diverse range of issues including natural resource management, biodiversity, education and training. Prior to joining ACIAR in 2017, Eleanor led the safety promotion and communication branch at the Civil Aviation Safety Authority. She has a Bachelor of Communication (Honours) from the University of Canberra.

Commission for International Agricultural Research

The Commission for International Agricultural Research (the Commission) has a critical governance role under the ACIAR Act to provide strategic advice to the Minister. The Commission will continue to play an important role as a sounding board and source of strategic advice for ACIAR. In 2022–23, it will also focus on the implementation of recommendations of the mid-term review of the ACIAR 10-Year Strategy 2018–2027. The Commission will also undertake recruitment of a new CEO for ACIAR, with the term of Professor Campbell ending 31 July 2023.

Commissioner
Mrs Fiona Simson GAICD BA (Chair)	Grazier, northern New South Wales President, National Farmers’ Federation
Professor Andrew Campbell FTSE FAICD	Chief Executive Officer, ACIAR
Dr Sasha Courville	Chief Impact Officer, Bank Australia
Emeritus Professor Lindsay Falvey FTSE, FAIAS	University of Melbourne
Ms Su McCluskey	Cattle farmer, southern New South Wales Non-executive director and commissioner Australia’s Special Agriculture Representative
Dr Beth Woods OAM FTSE	Independent consultant, agricultural management Chair of the Council of the Australian Institute of Marine Sciences
Mr Tony York	Farmer, central wheatbelt, Western Australia Director, National Farmers’ Federation

Policy Advisory Council

The role of the Policy Advisory Council under the ACIAR Act is to advise the Minister and ACIAR on the agricultural problems of developing countries, providing rich contextual detail and insight that informs the design and implementation of ACIAR-funded research. The Council will continue its important role of facilitating partnerships and being pivotal in discussions for setting priorities and research focus when developing new ACIAR partner country strategies.

Council member
Prof Wendy Umberger (President)	Executive Director, Centre for Global Food and Resources, and Professor of Agricultural and Food Economics and Food Policy, University of Adelaide, South Australia
Dr Audrey Aumua	Chief Executive Officer, Fred Hollows Foundation, New Zealand; Australian Pacific Women Advisory Board
Dr Nguyen Van Bo	Former President of the Vietnam Academy of Agricultural Sciences; Member, Vietnam Panel on Climate Change; Vice Chairman, Vietnam Rural Development Science Association; Board of Trustees member of Vietnam National University of Agriculture
Prof Ramesh Chand	Union Minister of State & Member of Fifteenth Finance Commission NITI Aayog, India. Member, Board of Trustees, CIMMYT (International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre), Mexico
Dr Rachel Chikwamba	Member, Group Executive, Chemicals, Agriculture, Food and Health Division, South Africa Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)
Dr Reynaldo Ebora	Executive Director of the Department of Science and Technology – Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development (DOST – PCAARRD)
Dr Segenet Kelemu	Director General and CEO of the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (icipe), Kenya; Member, United Nations University Council
Prof Teatulohi Matainaho	Vice Chancellor, Pacific Adventist University, Papua New Guinea
Dr Surmsuk Salakpetch	Former Director-General Thailand Department of Agriculture; Member, The Senate Sub-Committee on Factors of Production under The Senate Committee on Agriculture and Cooperatives, Thailand; Advisor of National Bureau of Agricultural Commodity and Food Standards, Thailand
Prof Achmad Suryana	Member, former Indonesian Agency for Agricultural Research and Development (IAARD) Experts Communication Forum; Professor, Indonesian Centre for Social, Economic and Policy Studies
Mr Sunny Verghese	Co-founder & Group CEO, Olam International Limited Singapore; Chairman of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD); Chairman of the Board of the Human Capital Leadership Institute (HCLI) Singapore; Chairman of JOil (S) Pte Ltd, and Member, Board of Trustees of Singapore Management University
Ex-officio member	Secretary of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, or nominee of the Secretary

Funding and expenditure

Table 1.1 Overview of planned funding and expenditure, 2022–23

Budget estimate
Funding		A$ million
Administered	Administered appropriation	92.92
	Special accounts	8.31
	Total administered funding	101.23
Departmental	Departmental appropriation	9.44
	s 74 Retained revenue receipts^a	2.11
	Expenses not requiring appropriation^b	1.27
	Total departmental funding	12.83
Total funding		114.07
Expenditure
Administered	Bilateral and regional research projects^c	71.06
	Global research collaborations^d	18.79
	Scientific and policy capacity building activities^e	9.35
	Outreach	2.03
Departmental	Total administered costs	101.23
Departmental	Total departmental costs^f	12.83
Total expenditure		114.07

a) Revenue from external sources.
b) Depreciation, amortisation and audit fees.
c) Includes program support and impact evaluation.
d) Includes unrestricted funding to international centres.
e) Does not include training and communication activity within projects.
f) Includes salaries, executive, Commission, Policy Advisory Council and corporate support.

Table 1.2 Planned contribution to ACIAR activities by external funders or partners, 2022–23

Activity area	Funder or partner	Expenditure
		A$ million
Regional and country projects	Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade	4.01
Postgraduate Scholarships	Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade	2.73
Food Futures Research Program	International Development Research Centre (Canada)	0.63
Total		7.37

Note There is no external funding expenditure on projects and programs in Africa by Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

Table 1.3 Australia’s funding to international agricultural research centres, 2022–23

	Unrestricted	Restricted (project specific)	Total
	A$ million	A$ million	A$ million
CGIAR	17.30	2.21	19.51
Other centres	5.93	—	5.93
Total	23.23	2.21	25.44

Note ‘Other centres’ encompasses international partners that do not belong to the CGIAR network.

Table 1.4 Planned project expenditure by country, 2022–23

Region and country	Target appropriation budget allocations	ACIAR base appropriation	DFAT and other external funding	Total allocation
	%	A$ million	A$ million	A$ million
Pacific region	31	16.35	2.29	18.64
Fiji	—	3.69	0.20	3.89
Kiribati	—	0.50	0.36	0.86
Samoa	—	1.36	0.03	1.39
Solomon Islands	—	2.12	0.39	2.51
Tonga	—	1.10	0.03	1.13
Vanuatu	—	1.01	0.36	1.37
Pacific island countries -general	—	0.34	0.36	0.70
Papua New Guinea	—	6.23	0.56	6.79
East and South-East Asia	44	23.41	1.83	25.24
Cambodia	—	3.35	0.31	3.66
China	—	0.07	—	0.07
Indonesia	—	4.27	0.78	5.05
Laos	—	4.11	0.09	4.20
Myanmar	—	0.79	—	0.79
Philippines	—	3.92	0.55	4.47
Timor-Leste	—	1.98	—	1.98
Vietnam	—	4.92	0.10	5.02
South Asia	14	7.50	0.25	7.75
Bangladesh	—	2.06	0.05	2.11
India	—	0.67	—	0.67
Nepal	—	0.77	—	0.77
Pakistan	—	3.49	0.10	3.59
Sri Lanka	—	0.51	0.10	0.61
Eastern and Southern Africa	10	5.52	2.68	8.20
Burundi	—	0.06	—	0.06
Ethiopia	—	1.36	0.11	1.47
Kenya	—	1.89	0.80	2.69
Malawi	—	0.14	0.15	0.29
Mozambique	—	0.23	0.24	0.47
Nigeria		—	0.10	0.10
Rwanda	—	0.31	—	0.31
South Africa	—	0.09	0.28	0.37
Tanzania	—	0.43	0.15	0.58
Uganda	—	0.58	0.13	0.71
Zambia	—	0.13	0.07	0.20
Zimbabwe	—	0.30	0.65	0.95
Total project expenditure		52.78	7.05	59.83

Note: Due to rounding, subtotals may not always add up to the totals shown

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