Steve McCutcheon

Chair

Steve has a Bachelor of Economics degree from Sydney University and a Graduate Diploma in Public Law from the Australian National University. He has extensive experience in working with the primary production sector in private and public sector settings.

From 1980–87, Steve worked in a number of positions in the banking sector related to rural lending. He then spent 20 years with the Australian Government Department of Agriculture working initially with the grains, industrial crops and horticulture sectors to implement government economic reforms. Later, as Executive Manager of the Department’s Product Integrity Animal and Plant Health Division, he administered the Australian Government’s role in national biosecurity arrangements and its participation in the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC).

In 2007, Steve was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ). He held this position until his retirement in 2017 and during his tenure led the development of a range of new food standards, including a number of primary production and processing standards.

Steve has held a number of board positions, including the Dried Fruits Research and Development Council, Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority, Australian Plague Locust Commission, FSANZ, and was appointed to the Department of Agriculture, Water and Environment’s Scientific Advisory Group (SAG) in 2017. He is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.