Ten years in, the Australian Industrial Hemp Conference has changed. This year in Geelong, the conversations were less about introductions and more about getting things done.
A region ready to grow
The Mayor of Greater Geelong, Stretch, opened by pointing to the city’s alignment with hemp, manufacturing and agriculture. For an industry that has often had to explain itself, it was a welcome sign: regional leaders now see hemp as an opportunity for local industry, not just a crop.
From meeting to collaborating
Phil Warner described how the last few conferences have been about people finding each other and working out how to fit into a value chain. Lachlan Grout of Hemp Farms Australia took the point further, describing the conference as a gathering of everyone in the industry who is either doing something or trying to.
“Coming to government with a single voice, working with government, providing solutions to some of the issues.”
— Lachlan Grout
Face-to-face time matters. It builds the trust and loyalty that business opportunities grow from, and the relationships formed in Geelong are the foundation for commercial activity in the year ahead.
The evidence is building
Sudi from Southern Cross University presented life-cycle assessment research on hemp construction, showing that a net-carbon-negative hempcrete wall or house is potentially achievable in Australia. The pathway runs through biogenic carbon storage, lower-carbon binders and optimised local supply chains. It is a potential, not a guarantee for every building, and that is the right way to tell the story.
Support for emerging industries
Kelly Kornacki and Jamin Forbes from AgriFutures Australia spoke about the support available to emerging industries, including agronomy, productivity and sustainability. Jamin reminded us that many of today’s major crops started small, and that maturing takes time.
“We hope to make it mature from, you know, early days all the way through to joining the rest of Australian agriculture as mainstream. It’s quite a journey.”
— Jamin Forbes
Richard Colbeck on the way forward
Coming to government with a single voice, working with government, providing solutions to some of the issues so that we can start progressively working through implementation of the recommendations getting the word out.
— Richard Colbeck, Senator for Tasmania
One voice: a question for the industry
If there is one thread running through the conference, it is the call for a single voice. Today, hemp advocacy is spread across state-based bodies, each doing valuable work for its own growers and processors. But the issues the industry faces, from regulation to market access to research funding, do not stop at state borders.
So here is the question we want to put to the community: is it time to bring our state bodies together into one national industry body?
The case for it is straightforward:
- One voice to government. A single, consistent message to federal and state decision-makers carries more weight than several.
- Shared resources. Combined membership, expertise and funding go further than duplicated effort.
- A clear front door. Investors, researchers, agencies like AgriFutures and the media would have one place to go.
- A national value chain. Growers, processors and builders could be connected across state lines.
The right approach would need to keep what works about state bodies, namely local knowledge and regional relationships, while building something stronger on top. That is a conversation for all of us, and nobody should feel it is being decided for them.
What happens next
As Maxine Shay of Hemp Collective, and a member of the iHemp NSW executive committee, put it, the people in this industry are inspiring.
“It’s been an amazing time to meet all of these founders and all of these people doing such amazing stuff within the industry. It’s super inspiring.”
— Maxine Shay, founder of Hemp Collective
That energy is the starting point. AIHC 2026 brought us together. The next step is working out how we stay together.
We want to hear from you. Are you a grower, processor, researcher or supporter? Does a national body make sense, and what would it need to get right? [Contact us / add link] to share your thoughts, and [become a member] to help shape the conversation.
