The Australian Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry

Introduction: The Australian Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry’s role is to develop and implement policies and programs that ensure Australia's agricultural, fisheries, food and forestry industries remain competitive, profitable and sustainable.

Our policies and programs:

encourage and support sustainable natural resource use and management
protect the health and safety of plant and animal industries
enable industries to adapt to compete in a fast-changing international and economic environment.
help improve market access and market performance for the agricultural and food sector
encourage and assist industries to adopt new technology and practices, and
assist primary producers and the food industry to develop business and marketing skills, and to be financially self-reliant.

The department employs about 4500 Full Time Equivalent staff in Australia and overseas, including policy officers, program administrators, economists, meat inspectors, researchers, veterinary officers, communicators and project managers. Our staff work in places as varied as offices, airports, mail centres, shipping ports, laboratories and abattoirs; located in regional centres, rural communities and capital cities.