A podcast like no other.
Real stories of leadership from rural, regional and remote Australia.
Tune in as we unearth stories from people passionate about building stronger industries and communities outside our city limits. Come with us as we dive into the ingredients for effective leadership, whatever the challenges you face, wherever you live or work.
Hosted by the Australian Rural Leadership Foundation.
About our podcast
Step into the heart of rural, regional, and remote Australia with Rural Leadership Unearthed, the podcast that unveils the hidden gems of leadership beyond the city limits.
Join us as we take a journey through real stories of individuals dedicated to strengthening industries and communities in the heartland.
In an engaging interview format, discover the essential ingredients of effective leadership, no matter the obstacles you encounter or the location you call home.
Join us as we unearth the untold stories of leadership that inspire and empower change.
Where to listen
Episode 10
Dairy leader’s mental health mission
In this raw episode, dairy industry leader, Aaron Thomas, shares the story of his mental health break-down in the midst of a “perfect storm” of personal and professional hardship. As well as managing a dairy farm in Southeast Gippsland, Aaron is working to break down the stigma, shame and lack of support that can see people struggle alone – especially in rural communities.
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Episode 10: Dairy leader’s mental health mission
10 October 2024
In this raw episode, dairy industry leader, Aaron Thomas, shares the story of his mental health break-down in the midst of a “perfect storm” of personal and professional hardship. As well as managing a dairy farm in Southeast Gippsland, Aaron is working to break down the stigma, shame and lack of support that can see people struggle alone – especially in rural communities.
Sitting down with our host, Claire Delahunty, Aaron candidly talks about his battle with depression, anxiety and alcoholism, and how in 2016, his mental health deteriorated to the point that he twice attempted to end his life. From the darkness of rock-bottom, the belief of Aaron’s employers, his family and his industry supported him to get back up and choose the life and impact he wants to have.
October is Mental Health Month and as Aaron explains, “you never beat it, but you learn to live with it”.
Aaron is a Farmer Director on the GippsDairy Board and a graduate of Dairy Australia’s Developing Dairy Leaders program. He completed Course 29 of the Australian Rural Leadership Program thanks to a scholarship from the Gardiner Foundation.
- Aaron describes the gradual and accumulative factors that can lead to mental health decline & how recovery is equally gradual
- The essential role of the support of Aaron’s employers and industry
- How ARLP Course 30 graduate and fellow dairy leader and mental health crusader, Sallie Jones, affirmed Aaron’s purpose in sharing his story
- How the Australian Rural Leadership Program taught him to ‘slow down to go faster’
- To be curious and ‘trust your gut’ if you think someone you know is struggling
- Why Aaron sees a bright future in the dairy industry
- Being truthful about our mental health is what matters, and it’s ok not to have all the answers
Claire Delahunty, is a writer and journalist who has worked with the ARLF for more than ten years, interviewing leaders having a positive impact on rural and regional Australia.
Australian Rural Leadership Program
National Farmer Wellbeing Report
More on Aaron’s mental health and leadership journey
Sallie Jones, ARLP graduate, dairy industry leader and mental health advocate
This episode discusses anxiety, depression and suicide. If you need support, reach out:
Lifeline: call 13 11 14 | text 0477 13 11 14 | https://www.lifeline.org.au/
Kids Helpline | 1800 551 800 | https://kidshelpline.com.au/
Beyond Blue | 1300 224 636 | https://www.beyondblue.org.au/
Suicide Call Back Service | 1300 659 467 | https://www.suicidecallbackservice.org.au/
Headspace | 1800 650 890 | https://headspace.org.au/
ReachOut at au.reachout.com | https://au.reachout.com/
MensLine Australia | 1300 789 978 | https://mensline.org.au/
Care Leavers Australasia Network (CLAN) | 1800 008 774 | https://clan.org.au/about/
Head to Health at headtohealth.gov.au | https://www.headtohealth.gov.au/
Episode 9
Connection & kindness are key to resilient communities
In this inspiring episode, ‘connection cultivator’ and co-founder of the grass-roots group, Resilient Uki, shares her passion for hyper-local community leadership.
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Episode 9: Connection & kindness are key to resilient communities
12 September 2024
In this inspiring episode, ‘connection cultivator’ and co-founder of the grass-roots group, Resilient Uki, shares her passion for hyper-local community leadership.
Sitting down with our host, Claire Delahunty, Mel explores what she and her community have learned from the devastating NSW floods of 2022. She unpacks how an existing scaffold of connection helped Uki to cope with the trauma and isolation of the flood, and what the community has done since to make sure that it is well prepared for the next challenge.
Mel’s motto is “in service”, and she richly demonstrates why kindness and connection are much more than ideals – but rather the foundation on which leadership and resilience can grow.
This conversation helps us to understand why community self-reliance is a growing reality of living in Australia’s changing climate, and to see the strengths inherent in our rural towns.
Mel has a background in environmental science and climate advocacy, and is a graduate of the Australian Rural Leadership Foundation’s Leading Australian Resilient Communities (LARC) Program. She has an article published in the Australian Journal of Emergency Management and is busy generating and collating community resilience building tools to share nationally.
Mel unpacks what ‘resilience’ means to her
“Who gives a shit about the washing?” – Mel explains why there can be a ‘honeymoon period’ after natural disaster
Why kindness and connection are the essential foundation for disaster preparedness
Practical tips to help us all prepare for ‘next time’
Plus the importance of giving everyone the space to have ideas and take the lead
Claire Delahunty, is a writer and journalist who has worked with the ARLF for more than ten years, interviewing leaders having a positive impact on rural and regional Australia.
Leading Australian Resilient Communities (LARC) program
Red Cross community-led resilience teams
If any of our episodes raise personal challenges or concerns for you, please reach out for support.
Lifeline: call 13 11 14 | text 0477 13 11 14 | https://www.lifeline.org.au/
Episode 8
Cotton’s leadership fibre
In this illuminating episode, cotton industry leaders and growers, Liz Stott and Aaron Kiely, share their stories of advocacy for their industry, and contribution to their communities.
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Episode 8: Cotton’s leadership fibre
8 August 2024
In this illuminating episode, cotton industry leaders and growers, Liz Stott and Aaron Kiely, share their stories of advocacy for their industry, and contribution to their communities.
Sitting down with ARLF Chief Executive, Matt Linnegar, for this special conversation, Liz – deputy chair of the Cotton Australia board, and Aaron – President of the Queensland Farmers’ Federation, speak about their pathways in the cotton industry. They also reflect on the ways that a range of leadership development opportunities have shaped their understanding of how and where they can make an impact.
This rich conversation takes in everything from social license in ag to the power of a 5-year plan; the importance of mentors; and of knowing your core values.
Liz is a graduate of Course 20, and Aaron of Course 29 of the Australian Rural Leadership Program (ARLP), thanks to scholarships provided by the Cotton Research and Development Corporation. Aaron is also a graduate of the ARLF’s TRAIL Emerging Leaders Program, and of his industry’s Australian Future Cotton Leaders and Cotton20 programs. Both Aaron and Liz share a passion for building up people in agricultural industries to take the whole sector forward.
Reflections on the rare gift of ‘360-degree feedback’
How paying opportunities forward builds a leadership pipeline
Appreciating that most people want to better understand farming
Hear how Liz and Aaron have navigated ‘positional leadership’ and the everyday commitment to making a difference
Plus Liz’s relatable insights into the parallels between leading and parenting
Cotton Research and Development Corporation
TRAIL Emerging Leaders Program
Australian Rural Leadership Program
Cotton Australia Leadership Programs
If any of our episodes raise personal challenges or concerns for you, please reach out for support.
Lifeline: call 13 11 14 | text 0477 13 11 14 | https://www.lifeline.org.au/
Episode 7
Keeping the fire burning
In this inspiring episode, Indigenous Midwife and Arrernte leader, Cherisse Buzzacott, shares her story of personal resilience and service to her community. She unpacks the ways systemic prejudice can compromise structures of care available to First Nations women and birthing people, and her determination not to accept what is broken, but to play a lead role in fixing it.
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Episode 7: Keeping the fire burning
11 July 2024
In this inspiring episode, Indigenous Midwife and Arrernte leader, Cherisse Buzzacott, shares her story of personal resilience and service to her community. She unpacks the ways systemic prejudice can compromise structures of care available to First Nations women and birthing people, and her determination not to accept what is broken, but to play a lead role in fixing it.
Cherisse is a graduate of the Australian Rural Leadership Foundation’s Milparanga Leadership Program (2023). She has just returned from the first session of Course 31 of the Australian Rural Leadership Program, thanks to a scholarship from the National Indigenous Australian Agency. Cherisse acknowledges the huge role of leadership development experiences in shaping her path in life.
Sitting down with our host, Claire Delahunty, Cherisse talks about her fulfilling role with the National NAIDOC Committee. This year’s NAIDOC Week theme is Keep the Fire Burning, which perfectly captures the spirit of activism and progress that lives in everything Cherisse stands for.
- Cherisse shares the remarkable progress of the Birthing on Country movement in Australia
- How her most vulnerable personal experience has forged her determination as an advocate for birthing women
- Reflections on the keys to healing her home community of Mparntwe, Alice Springs
- How mindfully sharing leadership responsibilities can ensure all are supported; and all have a chance to speak
- The ways leadership development programs have directly influenced some of her biggest life decisions
Claire Delahunty, is a writer and journalist who has worked with the ARLF for more than ten years, interviewing leaders having a positive impact on rural and regional Australia.
National Indigenous Australians Agency
Rodanthe Lipsett Indigenous Midwifery Charitable Fund
If any of our episodes raise concerns for you, please reach out for support. Lifeline: call 13 11 14 | text 0477 13 11 14 | https://www.lifeline.org.au/
13YARN: call 13 92 76 | https://www.13yarn.org.au/
Episode 6
Bouncing back from the brink
In this thoroughly aquatic episode, Port Fairy abalone diver, founder and director of Fox Wild Abalone, Craig Fox, takes us inside the world of this unique wild harvest industry. Craig revisits one of the darkest times in his professional life, when a highly contagious outbreak of Abalone Viral Ganglioneuritis (AVG) swept through the industry’s Western Zone.
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Episode 6: Bouncing back from the brink
13 June 2024
In this thoroughly aquatic episode, Port Fairy abalone diver, founder and director of Fox Wild Abalone, Craig Fox, takes us inside the world of this unique wild harvest industry. Craig revisits one of the darkest times in his professional life, when a highly contagious outbreak of Abalone Viral Ganglioneuritis (AVG) swept through the industry’s Western Zone. He speaks about the devastating emotional and financial impact, and the collective leadership the fisheries sector showed to recover and rebuild. Craig is passionate about fostering the diversity needed for his industry to continue to flourish into the future.
The busy leader will also next year participate in the Australian Rural Leadership Program, thanks to a scholarship from the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation.
Sitting down with our host, Claire Delahunty, Craig talks about the perspective his work gives him on healthy ocean environments, and the importance of telling the story of Australia’s world-leading seafood industries. We hope you enjoy this episode, as we mark World Ocean Day 2024.
- Craig describes the power of leaders working together to recover after disaster
- The value of shared knowledge and mentoring
- The importance of young women making their mark on a male-dominated industry
- A reminder to check country of origin labels on our seafood, and buy Australian
- If you’ve ever wondered the best way to cook your abalone, Craig has the answer!
Claire Delahunty, is a writer and journalist who has worked with the ARLF for more than ten years, interviewing leaders having a positive impact on rural and regional Australia.
Fisheries Research and Development Corporation
Fox Wild Abalone Instagram: @foxwildabalone
Abalone diver, Craig Fox_Port Fairy Winter Weekends
Abalone and Fox – A match made in heaven
If any of our episodes raise concerns for you, please reach out for support.
Lifeline: call 13 11 14 | text 0477 13 11 14 | https://www.lifeline.org.au/
Episode 5
Healing self to heal others
In this generous episode Indigenous leader, Bernice Hookey, shares her passion for disrupting the harmful cycles that exist around intergenerational trauma. She offers insight into her own journey of healing, and how it has led to her passion for fostering and supporting leadership through her amazing work with First Nations women.
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Episode 5: Healing self to heal others
9 May 2024
In this generous episode Indigenous leader, Bernice Hookey, shares her passion for disrupting the harmful cycles that exist around intergenerational trauma. She offers insight into her own journey of healing, and how it has led to her passion for fostering and supporting leadership through her amazing work with First Nations women.
Bernice was also sponsored by the National Indigenous Australians Agency to take part in course 29 of the Australian Rural Leadership Program in 2022. Sitting down with our host, Claire Delahunty, she describes how grief and darkness led her to a stronger connection with the importance of love and humanity in leadership. She also stresses how essential it is to be open to “everyday learning” and not to be complacent about bias, prejudice, discrimination and racism.
- Bernice shares her connection to Culture, Country and the vital role of Elders
- The power of keeping a diary and writing to reflect on your life
- Leaning in to “growing through what we’re going through”
- The role we can all play in sharing the responsibility for reconciliation
- How her business ‘positively disrupts’ social conditioning to create positive ripples for the next generation
Claire Delahunty, is a writer and journalist who has worked with the ARLF for more than ten years, interviewing leaders having a positive impact on rural and regional Australia.
Across the Tasman: a journey of inspiration, connection and reflection
Aunty Bernice on the Yanalagnami Changemakers podcast
Episode 4
To be saved by a stranger
In this raw episode, double organ transplant recipient and Herd of Hope founder, Megan McLoughlin takes us through the grief of receiving an extraordinary gift from a stranger, and her path to purpose and peace.
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Episode 4: To be saved by a stranger
11 April 2024
In this raw episode, double organ transplant recipient and Herd of Hope founder, Megan McLoughlin takes us through the grief of receiving an extraordinary gift from a stranger, and her path to purpose and peace.
Megan describes the experience of managing juvenile diabetes growing up in rural South Australia; losing most of her sight at the age of 26 and the joy and freedom she finds in barrel racing.
Megan undertook a mentorship through the Australian Rural Leadership Foundation’s National Mentoring Program in 2023 – a process which helped her realise she did not have to “prove” to the world that her life was worthy of saving.
Sitting down with our host, Claire Delahunty, she reflects on her journey to embrace her intrinsic value, and the inspiration she has taken from the humble herd animals she has spent her life around.
- Megan talks about the challenges of managing a chronic health problem in rural Australia
- How to be an advocate and raise awareness
- The complexity of receiving a life-saving gift from a stranger
- What we can all do to reframe the problematic label of ‘disability’
- Why we need our ‘herd’ around us, more than ever
Claire Delahunty, is a writer and journalist who has worked with the ARLF for more than ten years, interviewing leaders having a positive impact on rural and regional Australia.
Episode 3
Reframing how we think about farming
Oli Le Lievre is the founder of the hugely successful Humans of Agriculture podcast and media business. From suburban Sydney to a career in agriculture, Oli has let his curiosity and passion guide him to the frontline of reshaping the narrative about farming.
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Episode 3: Reframing how we think about farming
21 March 2024
Oli Le Lievre is the founder of the hugely successful Humans of Agriculture podcast and media business. From suburban Sydney to a career in agriculture, Oli has let his curiosity and passion guide him to the frontline of reshaping the narrative about farming.
Having experienced a range of roles on the land in Australia and overseas, and within the agri-corporate world, Oli has faced-down doubt and inner conflict to start a remarkable movement. It all centres around his conviction that stories are the key to reconnecting people with where food and fibre comes from.
Oli sits down with our host, Claire Delahunty, and shares his passion for shaping a positive conversation that we can all be a part of.
- Oli talks about how essential it is to be a part of the ‘conversation’ if you want to have input
- The realisation that age is no barrier to having something to offer
- How leading with a negative is not the way to engage someone or inspire change
- And taking comfort in the knowledge that fear is something every leader has grappled with at some stage, but if we’re willing to give it a go, it can be hugely rewarding
Claire Delahunty, is a writer and journalist who has worked with the ARLF for more than ten years, interviewing leaders having a positive impact on rural and regional Australia.
Episode 2
The Art of Vulnerable Leadership
In this revealing episode, writer/creative practitioner/community advocate/youth mentor/Australian Rural Leadership Foundation alum Alysha Herrmann shares her journey of authentic and vulnerable leadership.
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Episode 2: The Art of Vulnerable Leadership
8 February 2024
With family roots entrenched in the wool industry, Alysha’s life began with constant movement and a deep connection to rural communities. Facing adversity in her teen years, she made the bold decision to leave her family and school at just 15. The transformative experience of motherhood at 17 propelled her to pursue further education, and her inner creative, that reshaped her future.
Sitting down with ARLF’s Vivienne Johnson, Alysha shares her evolution from a rebellious, arts-averse teenager to a prominent figure in the regional arts sector.
- Alysha discusses the transformative impact of the creative industry on an individual, and the community.
- How it creates more opportunities for regional creatives to be heard in their own communities and further afield.
- The importance of diverse voices and inclusive approaches in decision making.
- And embracing vulnerability as a strength in leadership.
Claire Delahunty, is a writer and journalist who has worked with the ARLF for more than ten years, interviewing leaders having a positive impact on rural and regional Australia.
Episode 1
Leading our regions through disaster. And how it doesn’t have to be complicated.
In our first ever episode of the Rural Leadership Unearthed podcast, we sit down with Steve Tinker, a leader whose approach is as straightforward as it gets, even in the complex world of telecommunications. Discover how empathy guides him on the worst days, the influence of emergency leaders on his journey, and the contagious optimism of locals in times of disaster. Plus, Steve shares two unexpected yet practical disaster preparedness tips and more. As a longtime supporter of the ARLF, Telstra takes the spotlight in this episode, showcasing their commitment to positive impact across rural and remote Australia.
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Episode 1: Leading our regions through disaster. And how it doesn’t have to be complicated.
11 January 2024
Steve Tinker heads Telstra’s operations in Northern and Western Victoria and he’s part of Telstra’s Response Team. Over 30 years in the job, he’s led Telstra’s customer response, and support for impacted communities through some of the worst natural disasters we’ve seen. With our regions experiencing a cyclone, floods and fires in recent weeks, Steve and the Australian Rural Leadership Foundation’s chief executive Matt Linnegar discuss the challenges, and rewards, of leadership during disasters. And Telstra’s boost in disaster support across the regions.
Episode sponsored by Telstra
As one of ARLF’s longest supporters in delivering leadership for positive impact across regional, rural and remote Australia, we’re thrilled be featuring Telstra in the first episode of the Rural Leadership Unearthed podcast. To find out more about Telstra’s partnership and impact across our regions through its support and ARLF alumni, head to the links below.
- Alysha discusses the transformative impact of the creative industry on an individual, and the community.
- How it creates more opportunities for regional creatives to be heard in their own communities and further afield.
- The importance of diverse voices and inclusive approaches in decision making.
- And embracing vulnerability as a strength in leadership.
Matt Linnegar is the Chief Executive of the Australian Rural Leadership Foundation. He is the former CEO of the National Farmers’ Federation, and a committed advocate for rural Australia. Currently, he’s on the board of the Telstra Foundation, Agribusiness Australia and The Leadership Network.
Telstra’s Disaster Response campaign
Telstra’s dedicated assistance line: 1800 888 888
