14-02-2003

Robbie Sefton is a woman with vision, passion and drive. These qualities have seen her add one more achievement to an already long list.

Robbie is a partner in a leading farming business producing fine wool, cereal and legume crops near Coonabarabran in New South Wales. From the farm and an office in Gunnedah she also runs a successful national public relations and communications consultancy specifically for rural, regional and remote Australia, with team members in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth.

She is a graduate of the Australian Rural Leadership Program. Last year Robbie was named RIRDC Rural Woman of the Year for New South Wales and joined the Australian delegation to the World Rural Womens' Congress in Spain.

Thanks to a scholarship from Land & Water Australia, Robbie will now be undertaking a company director's course and receive a year of business mentoring.

Chair of Land & Water Australia Bobbie Brazil said Robbie was a deserving recipient of the award with a great vision for rural and regional Australia.

'Robbie believes in an exciting future for rural Australia. The company director's course will help her enhance her involvement and leadership in organisations, companies and the community to deliver better results for people in the bush,' Ms Brazil said.

In 1997, Robbie and husband Alistair Yencken moved from their farm in Kojonup in Western Australia to Coonabarabran. Their goal was to find a balance between running a successful rural enterprise and national business consultancy, to prove that fulfilment, independence and success can be achieved anywhere in Australia.

She conducts regular speaking engagements and represents rural interests in a range of industry forums.

'I see myself as an ambassador for rural Australians and take great pride in being able to influence the debate at every level,' Robbie said. 'I thirst for knowledge and actively seek out opportunities to learn more, whether it relates to the farm, the environment or the consultancy.

'I want to add a positive voice that is often lost in the conversation and debate about the bush, so that rural, regional and remote Australians develop confidence in themselves. Technology offers farmers and rural communities the opportunity to shape their own futures like never before, and once accepted, the prospect of change can be very liberating.

'To achieve true sustainability, real competitiveness and ongoing profitability, we must fundamentally change the way we think and develop confidence in our abilities.'

Robbie's scholarship is one of 12 awarded under the Industry Partnerships - corporate governance for rural women, a joint initiative of 12 Rural R&D Corporations and the Australian Government Department of Agriculture Fisheries and Forestry. The initiative provides rural women with the opportunity to attend a five-day residential program in Canberra next month, run by the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

ENDS

For interviews: Robbie Sefton, Sefton and Associates, 02 6742 6655

Media enquiries and images: Media Officer, Land & Water Australia, 02 6263 6000

For information about the scholarship program: Department of Agriculture Fisheries and Forestry, 02 6272 5625