Contact
Resource Centre
Activities
Membership
Goals and Initiatives
History
Contact
Contact the OAA
The Organic Resource Centre is located in the Fuchsia Wing, 14 McKean Street, Bairnsdale. Google Maps
The OIRC is open Thursdays between 11 am and 3 pm. All visitors welcome.
Postal Address: PO Box 1263, Bairnsdale, Vic 3875
Mob:0429 889 479
Or utilise the Contact FormABN: 54 097 016 991
Or utilise the Contact Form
ABN: 54 097 016 991
Incorporated Association No. A0010576A
Bank Details: Organic Agriculture Association Inc.
BSB No: 633000 Account No: 169681699
Bank Details: Organic Agriculture Association Inc.
BSB No: 633000 Account No: 169681699
Resource Centre
Organic Information and Resource Centre (OIRC)
The OIRC is located in the Fuchsia Wing, 14 McKean Street, Bairnsdale - 2nd wing behind the original Hospital - now the Wild Cherry Steiner School. Park or proceed left of front buildings and then follow walkway leading to the right from the inner carpark. Google Maps
The OIRC is open Thursdays between 11 am and 3 pm. All visitors welcome.
Please consider confirming that we are open if traveling long distances.
The OIRC is the home of the OAA Library, Bookshop, Seedbank, Garden, and depending on availability some fruit, vegetables, herbs and seedlings or preserves may be available for exchange by members and visitors.
Committee Meetings generally take place: 10:00am, 1st Thursday of each month, all welcome.
Postal Address: PO Box 1263, Bairnsdale, Vic 3875
Mob: 0429 889 479
Activities
What Does The OAA Do?
MEETINGS target setting the program of activities and Events, and are generally held at the Organic Resource Centre, 14 McKean Street, Bairnsdale (in the wings behind the old Hospital - now the Wild Cherry Steiner School). Visitors always welcome. Contact the OAA if you have an item to discuss or are interested in attending by Zoom or phone.
MEETING TIME: Generally 10:00am, 1st Thursday of each month.
MEETING TIME: Generally 10:00am, 1st Thursday of each month.
THE ORGANIC RESOURCE CENTRE is open every Thursday from 11am till 3pm. Google Maps
'GROWING YOUR KNOWLEDGE' SESSIONS (Interactive Organic related workshops) generally take place at 1pm on the first Thursday of the month. To see whats on visit the News & Events page.
THE Library offers the largest collection of organic - sustainability related literature and resources in Australia.
THE GARDEN is available as a demonstration of organic growing, and the produce is shared.
Seedbed, the quarterly newsletter is mailed or emailed to members. Seedbed contains news, stories and articles to keep members in touch. We exchange Newsletters and information with other affiliate organisations.
Bookshop has a large range of books, and members are able to buy these at discounted prices.
Seedbank has a range of non-hybrid seed for sale. A way for members to exchange and increase the varieties available, suited to local conditions.
MOST IMPORTANTLY, members get to meet others who have similar interests and in helping each other many wonderful friendships develop.
Membership
Memberships (Fall due in February)
Membership provides the following benefits:
- Our quarterly OAA newsletter "Seedbed."
- Access to an extensive organic Library.
- 10% discount on items from our Bookshop.
- The opportunity to participate in OAA Workshops, Conferences and Events.
- Remain up to date with community and organic industry information.
- Active participating in, and the support of sound ecological stewardship.
- Networking.
The OAA very much appreciates your support and involvement.
New and Existing Members need to be aware that they are required to respect and uphold the Model rules for an incorporated association (download).
Members also need to agree that some, if minimal personal information is held on record. If you have concerns or questions in this regard, please contact the OAA.
Subscriptions
Renewals are due in February.
Subscription - $40/yr if receiving a paper or paper & email copy of Seedbed, or $35/yr by email.
Seedbed by email as it is in color and it reduces the footprint.
Use the membership form below, or this Link to download a form that can be returned by mail or emailed to accompany a bank transfer, or by visiting the Resource Centre in person.
Bank Details:
Account: Organic Agriculture Association Inc.
BSB No: 633000 Account No: 169681699
Please include your name within the transfer description.
Membership Form
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Goals and Initiatives
Goals & Initiatives
- To develop and maintain a resource centre of information.
- To provide members with the opportunity to share knowledge and experiences and to access joint resources for organic methods of agriculture.
- To encompass all organic, natural and holistic - sustainable farming methods.
- To promote public education of regenerative effects of organic agriculture, rather than destructive practices - working with nature rather than trying to dominate it.
- To provide and support field days, lectures and seminars.
- To join with other groups to strengthen the movement towards a more sustainable food production and land use system.
- Provide for seed and plant exchange and food swapping (Street Harvest and grafting days).
- To promote research and development.
- To actively oppose actions that do not meet community, environmental, economical and planetary prerequisites, including the highly unsustainable development GM crops and the use of synthetic chemicals.
The broadening problems for Australian agriculture are:
- Loss of tree cover, salinity, acidity, wind and water erosion, silting and pollution of our rivers and lakes.
- A loss of up to 80% of nutritional food density, and the flow on impact and loss of resilience inherent with using synthetic chemicals.
- The imminent depletion of resources and the high demand for fossil fuels.
- An immediate requirement to move to a system that prioritises adaptation to climate change and that reverses damaging atmospheric emissions.
- Highlighting the need for SUSTAINABLE ORGANIC AGRICULTURE, promoting a healthy living soil for plants, animals, humanity and the future.
History
Organic Agriculture Association History 1984-2024
The East Gippsland Organic Agriculture Association was formed in 1984 at a public meeting held at Wally and Audrey Porter’s at Wiseleigh. Wally and Audrey had been working with Bill Mollison in Tasmania and recently moved to East Gippsland, and wanted to start an organic group to promote organic gardening and farming in the community. About 20 adults and a lot of children came to the first meeting. A field day was held at Porter’s in April that year, attracting over 100 people, which amazed the new committee.
The first newsletter was produced in March 1985, named East Gippsland Association of Organic Agriculture Newsletter (subsequently Newsletter became News). The following year it was renamed Seedbed, after one issue called Stinking Roger, and continues strongly.
Early activities centred around field days, which were held for the first few years at least 6 times a year as members developed their knowledge and passed it on to the community. A Pat Coleby field day in 1986 at Orbost attracted 120 people. EGOAA started selling books in 1985, at first only two titles, and collecting information that eventually became part of the library. By 2004 there were over 200 titles on sale.
Water harvesting and soil aeration field day, Clifton Creek, 1987
Some members attended the Kiewa Organic Farming School in 1986, an organic conference featuring speakers and discussion on organic topics, and the Association decided to run a similar event in East Gippsland. This was initially called the Summer Organic Farming School, and was held at Banksia Peninsula near Paynesville on the Australia Day long weekend in January 1987, attracting 200 people. This became an annual event for many years, called Grow Organic, then every second year before becoming spasmodic. In 1989 260
people attended. Since then, numbers have been fairly consistently about 120. The events were low cost, supported by sponsorship. They were mostly held at venues where camping was possible. The most recent was held in 2010 in Bairnsdale.
Organic Summer School, Banksia Peninsula, January 1988
Other organic groups were set up in South Gippsland and Central Gippsland, but these did not last and became absorbed into EGOAA. A Sale branch of EGOAA was formed at a meeting at Peter and Nola Mowbray’s at Sale in July 1988, and was very active for many years.
In 1988 Wally Porter started an organic gardening and farming course at Bairnsdale Adult Community Education. This was a seven week course, two hours a week, and very successful. Alan Broughton ran some similar courses in the mid 1990’s.
Members Wally Porter and Lionel Pollard were instrumental in setting up the first organic standards for Australia in about 1987. Wally became co-ordinator of organic inspections for eastern Victoria for the Victorian Council for Sustainable Agriculture which carried out NASAA inspections. Wally and Don Francis of Geelong did the first organic inspection in Victoria, at Wandin East.
In 1989 the structure of EGOAA changed – up to this time there was no chairman or secretary. The philosophy of EGOAA had been that decisions were made by consensus, and the only positions necessary were Treasurer and Publicity Officer. However, this meant that decisions would take a long time to be made and some members wanted a more efficient system.
A proposal was developed by EGOAA in 1996 to set up and run an organic demonstration farm at Nyerimilang Park, near Lakes Entrance. Meetings were held with the management committee of Nyerimilang and support gained. A submission for funding was put to the Special Rural Research Fund to employ a person for three days a week to convert 16 hectares into an organic grazing property, with the possibility of setting up an organic heritage fruit orchard on part of this land. Unfortunately, the submission was unsuccessful, and the proposal was dropped.
From 1990 interest in heritage fruits and vegetables increased, and this activity was pursued by EGOAA members. Fruit tree grafting days were held for many years where people could buy scions of over 200 different apples, plus plums and pears that members had collected. These were very popular among members and the general public, with older people passing on scions of their favourite fruits for preservation. In 1993 a total of 180 people attended the two grafting days at Bairnsdale and Briagolong. EGOAA became the state leader in preserving heritage fruits. In 1996 heritage fruits project work passed on to Permaculture Melbourne. A seedbank was also started in 1990 and continues.
Rob Seiler demonstrating fruit tree grafting, 1993
In 1991 $500 worth of organic books were donated to the East Gippsland Regional Library by the Association. A further donation of organic books was made in 1995 to the Bairnsdale and Sale libraries to the value of $300 each.
In 1992 EGOAA started a regular half hour organic segment on East Gippsland Community Radio, and a monthly organic talkback program commenced on ABC Radio 3GI at Sale, run at various times by Neil Barraclough, Alan Broughton, Wally Porter and Robyn Grant. The ABC program lasted from 1991 to 1998, until the ABC decided to terminate it.
EGOAA decided to offer a scholarship for a local person to study organic agriculture at tertiary level. Investigations found that there were no such courses, however the Graduate Diploma in Sustainable Agriculture at Orange Agricultural College was decided upon as the most suitable. Alan Broughton was the first recipient in 1997, followed by Kathy Cogo in 1999.
A plan to establish an organic farming course in Bairnsdale started in 1998. Talks were held with East Gippsland TAFE to run the course, but these were not successful; fortunately, Northern Melbourne Institute of TAFE decided to run with it instead. It started in Bairnsdale in 2001 as Certificate 3 with 40 students and upgraded to Diploma in 2003. This organic course became a priority for the Association; however other activities such as field days continued, though less frequently. The course won the Organic Federation of Australia Best Organic Education Project Award in 2003. Classes also commenced in Drouin and at the Epping campus of NMIT.
Organic class learning plant propagation, 2003
In February 2001 the Organic Information and Resource Centre was launched at 25 Princes Highway, Bairnsdale, by Peter McGauran, MHR. Willing Workers on Organic Farms donated $2,000 to purchase books for the library which soon became by far the largest organic resource facility in Australia. The organic course operated from this venue.
Also in 2001, the Association received a grant of $60,000 from the Federal Government for “Gippsland’s Organically Grown Future”, a project to facilitate the organic movement in Gippsland. Robyn Grant and Gayle Timms carried out the project. As part of the project, Huck Shepherd, organic farmer from South Australia, came to run a series of field days on soil fertility at Bengworden, Ensay and Orbost. A field day at Fish Creek brought out 120 people.
John Poynton talking on organic sheep care, Ensay, 2001
The Association formally changed its name from East Gippsland Organic Agriculture Association to Organic Agriculture Association to reflect the fact that members and activities were no longer confined to East Gippsland. It was also hoped that the name change would assist in grant applications, but this did not happen.
The Organic Information and Resource Centre moved to 307 Main Street Bairnsdale in August 2003, then in December to the Fuchsia Wing, 14 McKean St (in the former East Gippsland Centre for Extended Care).
The Association obtained accreditation as a Registered Training Organisation in 2004 and commenced running units of the organic diploma course in various locations: Shepparton, Smeaton, Ballarat, Castlemaine, Merimbula, Sale, Buchan, Orbost, Benambra, Bonang and Melbourne through Farmbis, a government scheme to subsidise education for farmers. The most popular were in Shepparton where most of the course units were run over several years. Farmbis ceased operation in 2007 and the RTO registration was dropped, as unsubsidised courses became too expensive for people.
Dairy farmers Ian and Wendy Klein in the Shepparton soil management course, 2004
The NMIT courses also ceased operation in 2008, but were reactivated a few years later by East Gippsland TAFE (subsequently called Advance TAFE and then Federation Training). Weekly classes started at Sale in 2011 and the course was set up for online delivery, a long time OAA goal. OAA had applied over several years for funding to ready the course for distance education but met with continual rejection. TAFE decided to terminate the course at the end of 2016, due to difficulty in getting enrolments.
Several OAA members attended the IFOAM (International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements) conference in Adelaide in 2005. Alan Broughton gave a presentation on organic education; he also did a talk at the 2011 IFOAM conference in Seoul, on the organic dairy conversion project carried out by the Organic Dairy Farmers of Australia. John Liddicoat served on the board of the Organic Federation of Australia in 2005 and 2006 while he was OAA President.
Several international speakers have been hosted by OAA to bring a different perspective to members and the community. They include Gavin Fisher (NZ organic dairy farmer) in 2005, Percy Schmeiser (Canadian anti-GM campaigner) in 2008, Roberto Pérez (Cuban permaculturalist) in 2012, and Rei Yoon, a Korean Canadian, talking about Jadam, a system of Korean natural farming, in 2017. Each created a large amount of interest. The films Power of Community on Cuba’s adoption of organic agriculture and Growing Change on agroecology in Venezuela were shown several times in Bairnsdale and Orbost to appreciative audiences. OAA hosted a visit by 20 students from Bangla Desh, Sri Lanka and India in October 2015. Two Vietnamese guests addressed OAA members in March 2019, about their research work in agricultural issues in their country.
Roberto Pérez, Cuban permaculturalist, Orbost, 2012
OAA members have been involved in the GM debate, speaking at forums in various parts of Gippsland and writing submissions. OAA played an important role in the East Gippsland Shire’s vote to declare the region GM free in 2008.
Submissions were also made to the Federal Government’s National Food Plan in 2011, and the Victorian Parliamentary inquiries into Sustainable Development of Agribusiness in Outer Suburban Melbourne in 2009 and Agricultural Education in 2012. In both of the Victorian inquiries OAA was invited to present in person – Stephen Cross in Melbourne for the first and Alan Broughton in Warragul for the second. The Association assisted with the establishment of the Bairnsdale farmer’s market in about 2003.
Work on the garden at the organic centre started in 2011, converting an overgrown weedy wasteland into an attractive showpiece. Stephen Cross built two wicking beds in the shape of wagons in 2014.
Wicking bed wagons at the organic centre
A permaculture discussion group was set up in 2011 and remained active for a couple of years. Sharon Dent presented a series of biodynamic workshops on Sunday afternoons in 2016. In 2022 Alan Broughton presented a 4 week course on organic soil management at the organic centre, to 11 people. A book of the course content was published. Food forests and permaculture films and discussions took place later in 2022.
A very successful heritage fruits grafting day took place at the organic centre in winter 2013 to raise funds to set up a garden and poultry facility at Farkwa Secondary School in Tanzania, improving the nutrition of students. A total of $3,700 resulted, which also contributed to the construction of rainwater tanks for the Farkwa school.
Grafting day at the organic centre, 2013
A one day seminar on pesticides took place in Bairnsdale in 2018. The principal focus was the launch of André Leu’s new book Poisoning Our Children, on the effect of pesticides on children and the unborn. Other speakers included Reza Davari on organic farming in Iran, Nguyen Van Kien on organics in Vietnam, Alan Broughton on the effects of pesticides and chemical fertilisers on soil biology, and Liz Clay on organic vegetable growing.
Speakers at the pesticide seminar, 2018: Nguyen Van Kien, Helen Disler (recorder), Alan Broughton, André Leu, Liz Clay, Reza Davari
OAA organised a seminar on regenerative agriculture in Bairnsdale in 2019, presented by André Leu, president of Regeneration International, former President of IFOAM (International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements).
OAA signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Mekong Organics to cooperate on promoting organics in Vietnam. The first forum and five day course commenced in January 2019 in the Mekong Delta. Others followed in 2021 and 2002 (online), 2023 and 2024, for farmers, students and agriculture department staff. Alan Broughton was one of the presenters in each of these courses. In 2023 two OAA members, Pam Findlay and Neula Daly, started tutoring school students from the rice-prawn farming area in English, for an hour per week online.
Organic students at a pepper farm, Binh Phuoc Province, Vietnam, 2024
OAA hosted a delegation of 20 Vietnamese organic farmers and organisations in March 2024, at a joint seminar with Landcare at the Sarsfield Hall. Six of the delegation spoke about their farming systems which were soundly based on ecological principles.
Meeting with visiting Vietnamese delegation, Sarsfield 2024
In September 2019 OAA commenced monthly Grow Your Knowledge sessions at the organic centre. Many topics relevant to farming and gardening have been covered: plant propagation techniques, different crop varieties, wicking beds, bees, soil management, pests and diseases, weeds, pruning, nutrition, animals, biodynamics, weed identification and management. On average, a dozen people attended each session.
Biodynamic compost making, 2021
Tenancy at the Organic Centre has been precarious for several years but fortunately has been maintained, though the building continues to deteriorate and the complex has been up for sale for several years. The Centre is open each Thursday for library use, book sales, the weekly Street Harvest food swap and voluntary work maintaining the garden, library and seedbank. There have been several burglaries, which fortunately have resulted in only small losses, of money only.
Stephen Cross and Pam Findlay collating Seedbed
OAA has developed partnerships of cooperation with many organisations: Australian Landscape Trust, East Gippsland and Far Eastern Victoria Landcare Networks, (f)route, Bairnsdale Street Harvest, Maker Space, Fostering Futures for Kids in Farkwa, Kigwe Farmers’ Association in Uganda, Institute of Ecological Agriculture in Australia, Organic Federation of Australia, NASAA, Federation Training, East Gippsland Food Cluster, Snowy Growers Community Garden (and other community garden organisations in Bairnsdale and Lake Tyers Beach), Food Sovereignty Australia, East Gippsland Environment Group, Mekong Organics and more.
While the membership of OAA is spread through south-eastern Australia, activities are still focused primarily in East Gippsland where the headquarters are and where the committee members reside. This is unfortunate, but voluntary time commitment is limited. Assistance to people in other regions in planning events is possible if plans are initiated by local people.
The Association is run by a small group of dedicated people. It has a reputation nationally for its dynamic and sustained activities and has been a leader in several fields: organic seminars and field days, developing the organic standards, heritage fruits preservation, the library unique in Australia, and organic education. Few other organic organisations have maintained their activities over such a long period.
Compiled by Alan Broughton.
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