A gold award has been won by the Grains Research and Development Corporation and its farming systems program team in the Prime Minister¹s Awards for Excellence in Public Sector Management.

Tony Abbott, the Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Public Service, presented the award last night to the GRDC¹s executive manager of program operations, John Harvey, and a former GRDC regional panel member, Professor Peter Cornish of the University of Western Sydney.

Another federal government agency, Centrelink, was co-winner of the gold award.

The managing director of the GRDC, John Lovett, today congratulated the 21 people (listed below) who have participated in the farming systems program team. The award recognises their achievements over six years in bringing local farmers and researchers together to collaboratively re-design Australia¹s approach to farming systems research in more than 30 districts across the grain belt.

Experts who have been involved in the GRDC program team since 1996 included regionally-based farmers, scientists and academics, as well as GRDC management.

Professor Lovett said the award afforded high, national recognition to members of the GRDC's regional panels, as well as GRDC management.

ŒThis award underscores the excellence of the system under which regional panel members and management operate together through the GRDC¹s program teams, which were created to help Australia¹s graingrowers to innovate¹, he said.

The awards function was attended by 180 guests of the Institute of Public Administration Australia, in the Australian War Memorial. In a speech of acceptance, the GRDC¹s program operations manager, John Harvey, praised the work of a former regional panel member, Professor Peter Cornish, who served
in the inaugural farming systems program team from 1996.

The Prime Minister¹s Excellence awards aim to encourage and recognise better practice and innovation in government. They are an initiative of the Institute of Public Administration Australia and are designed to honour the achievements of public sector work groups, units and teams, rather than
individuals.

The GRDC's nomination competed with 38 from federal departments and agencies. They were judged on the ŒApproach, Deployment, Results, Improvement¹ (ADRI) methodology developed by Business Excellence Australia, a group of Standards Australia International.

There were four criteria:

1. Demonstrated excellence in external and/or internal service delivery;
2. Demonstrated commitment to and achievement of improved external and/or internal client satisfaction;
3. Demonstrated high standard leadership, management and collaboration during a major change initiative;
4. Demonstrated innovative approaches to products, services or program delivery, including the use of new technologies.

PAST AND PRESENT MEMBERS OF THE GRDC¹S AWARD-WINNING FARMING SYSTEMS PROGRAM TEAMS (SINCE 1996)