Fiona Simson

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Fiona Simson
Nationality Australia
EducationUniversity of Canberra
OccupationVice-president World Farmers' Organisation
Known forSustainable Agriculture
Board member ofAustralian Centre for International Agricultural Research, Future Food Systems.

Fiona Simson is an Australian champion for Sustainability in Agriculture, Rural and Regional communities, and became an honorary Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, in 2024. [1] [2] She was the first woman president of the National Farmers' Federation. [2]

Contents

Education and early life

Simson grew up on a farm near Armidale, in NSW, Australia. She was a rotary exchange student, in 1982 in Denmark. [3]

She followed a career in corporate life, followed by a role in local government. Simson graduated from Bachelor of Arts, at the University of Canberra and is a graduate of the Australian Company Directors. In 2006, she successfully campaigned to stop mining companies from extracting coal seam gas, in central NSW, Caroona. [3]

Career

Simson ran a family farming business, including a broad acre farming and commercial breeding business, and she was elected as a Councillor in the Liverpool Plains Shire Council.[ citation needed ]

In 2016, Simson was elected President of the National Farmers' Federation. [4] Simson is an advisor for Australia's Foreign Affairs Minister, on the topic of agricultural research and development. [5] Simson is also a board member on the Australian Made Campaign, AgStewardship Australia, and the Board of NRMA (NSW). She is also on the board of the Australian Farmers Fighting Fund.[ citation needed ]

Simson was appointed to the statutory Nature Repair Committee in 2024. [6] Simson was also a Director of the Biodiversity Conservation Trust of NSW, and One Basin CRC. Simson is Patron of the National Rural Press Clue, and of the Program for NFF Diversity in Leadership. [7]

Simson was elected as the first Australian vice president of the World Farmers' Organisation in 2024. [8] [9]

Awards and honours

References

  1. ↑ "New Fellows 2024". Australian Academy of Technological Sciences & Engineering. Retrieved 28 August 2025.
  2. 1 2 3 Murphy, Brigette (21 June 2024). "'Bit of a big deal' as Australian woman first to be elected deputy of world farming body". ABC News. Retrieved 28 August 2025.
  3. 1 2 Riminton, Hugh (8 December 2018). "The Year That Made Me: Fiona Simson, 1982". ABC listen. Retrieved 28 August 2025.
  4. ↑ Osky. "Fiona Simson". The Crawford Fund. Retrieved 28 August 2025.
  5. ↑ "Fiona Simson". The Center for International Forestry Research and World Agroforestry. Retrieved 28 August 2025.
  6. ↑ Davidson, Stacey (28 August 2024). "NFF celebrates Fiona Simson's role on new Nature Repair Committee". National Farmers' Federation. Retrieved 28 August 2025.
  7. ↑ "Leadership". National Roads and Motorists' Association Limited. Retrieved 28 August 2025.
  8. ↑ "Fiona Simson named keynote speaker for 2025 National Landcare Conference". The Land. 8 August 2025. Retrieved 28 August 2025.
  9. ↑ Davidson, Stacey (20 June 2024). "Historic win for farmers: Fiona Simson elected WFO Vice President". National Farmers' Federation. Retrieved 28 August 2025.
  10. ↑ Marzo, Valeria Di (9 June 2023). "The World Farmers' Organisation Welcomes New Vice President and Board Member". World Farmers' Organisation. Retrieved 28 August 2025.
  11. ↑ "NFF president Fiona Simson receives 2023 Rabobank Leadership Award". Rabobank. Retrieved 28 August 2025.
  12. ↑ "Fiona Simson". Australian Academy of Technological Sciences & Engineering. Retrieved 28 August 2025.
  13. ↑ "Farmers applaud appointment of Fiona Simson to Climate Change Authority". Farmers for Climate Action. 15 March 2024. Retrieved 28 August 2025.
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