Don Farrell, Minister for Trade, announced the Inquiry into the utilisation of benefits under Australia’s free trade agreements in May. Sandra North formerly of Seven Seasons and now of Seppeltsfield Rd Distillers and David Vitale of Starward appeared before the Committee alongside Spirits & Cocktails Australia chief executive Greg Holland and chair Dan Hamilton. This was another opportunity for our industry to showcase its potential to become a $1 billion export industry by 2035.

Sandra and David’s evidence highlighted the uniqueness and quality of Australian spirits. They advised the Committee that while FTAs are important to growing spirits exports, current FTAs require reforms to ensure safe passage for our innovative products featuring exotic ingredients. Eg Green Ant Gin.

Sandra and Dave advised the Committee that FTAs are not a silver bullet for spirits exports to succeed. They said supporting policy measures must include reform of spirits excise and the establishment of an export body, Spirits Australia, that will undertake similar functions to those of Wine Australia.

Like the Food & Beverage Inquiry, we now wait for the Committee to deliver its final report, which is likely to be early next year. We hope the inquiry will deliver bipartisan recommendations that support our export agenda.

Chief executive Paul McLeay discusses the Australian Distillers Association's recent participation in the Inquiry into the understanding and utilisation of benefits under Free Trade Agreements.

Also discussed is the peak body's campaign for Federal Government funding to support its export ambitions; its MOUs with state-based distilling associations; the evolution of its project groups; and more.

Paul is interviewed by James Atkinson, media and communications manager at Spirits & Cocktails Australia.

You can also listen to spirits industry highlights from the parliamentary inquiry on the Drinks Adventures podcast.

ACCESS THE RECORDING

Registration for the American Distilling Institute's 2025 International Spirits Competition is now open and Australian Distillers Association members can obtain a discount code that provides  not only a discount on entry fees, but additional features.

When members of the Australian Distillers Association enter their spirits and use the discount code ADA2025 they will save $100/spirit off ADI's non-member rate. And, any spirit entered by February 7, 2025 will automatically save an extra $50/spirit from the early-bird discount.

American Distilling Institute (ADI) International Spirits Competition Benefits include:

Note: Spirits registration closes March 7, 2025.

All details can be found on the link below or contact Eric Zandora, Competition Director, directly.

COMPETITION DETAILS

The ATO recently advised they have revised the draft determination of attributes of beer. This is in relation to beer v seltzers and other brewed products that do not fit the conventional definition of beer.

It is important to our category because there have been instances of fruity beers and similar products that, in the eyes of the consumer, do not appear different to our spirit based RTDs, but are taxed at the beer rate and therefore considerably less expensive, putting our products at a relative disadvantage.

The Australian Distillers have written on several occasions to the ATO re hard seltzers and SCA previously commissioned research via the National Measurement Institute to demonstrate that some seltzer products/ fruity beers were falling foul of the ATO’s existing definition of beer.

We advocated for new guidance from the ATO to cover this emerging category so that products that appeared the same to consumers were taxed at the same rate (i.e. a seltzer is a seltzer to a consumer, irrespective of whether it is produced off a beer or spirit base, so it should be taxed at the same rate).

The ATO has been consulting on new guidance/ beer definitions over the past three years and circulated a final definition for consultation a couple of months ago. We opted not to respond at the time, as we felt our position was well known by the ATO and we thought they had landed on a position that is broadly consistent with our views.

We are also be concerned about a range of new RTDs made off shochu, soju and sake-bases and differing taxation rates for each.

The Australian Distillers board recently agreed to respond to the ATO draft publication in the following terms:

The Federal election will likely be held some time early next year. We remind you that we have fact sheets and talking points for any distiller that has a visit from their local MP.

We especially ask that you let us know if your MP is coming to visit. We like to know who is visiting and happy to assist you in any way should you require it. Please email Paul for political visits.

  

Have you used the HR advisory service yet?

Members are reminded that this valuable service is free to all Primary Contacts of the ADA. Click on the RESOURCES tab in the Members Portal and Select HR Advisor. Not only does it have relevant awards, pay scales, the free telephone referral advice service, but there is a suite of every HR policy and process you will need to run your business effectively. Best of all, they are free to download, and white labelled for you to put your company logo on and use for inductions, training, policy updates and compliance.

Australian Distillers Association seeks to unify national and State organisations and reducing members costs, by offering ONE membership to both National and State organisations.

The Australian Distillers Association (ADA) is committed to providing excellent member services and support and cooperation with all Divisions and State organisations.

Many members are frustrated they need to be members of both organisations.

Annual billing is not aligned, and fee structures are different. Whilst members see the difference in the services and benefits derived from the National and the State organisation, they question fee requirements from two organisations they see as intrinsically linked.

There is an opportunity for alignment and collaboration between the ADA and state representative bodies, to best advance the interests of the Australian spirits industry.

As such, the Australian Distillers Association and State organisations are in discussions on an MOU that will provide a central membership administration system with one membership fee to both organisations with the following benefits:

Other benefits include improved membership administration for State organisations, enabling each of the State associations to concentrate on core business.

To ensure a smooth transition the Australian Distillers Board recently met and agreed the new annual membership fee structure.

These fees will take effect immediately and an agreed proportion of the fee will be given to the State organisation to cover specific State based activities if they vote to have the MOU.

State organisations will engage with their membership to determine if it is in their interest to have an MOU with the ADA. Members in each state will be advised by their state based organisation.

For Members in NSW | ACT Division, this will come into effect immediately.

A key milestone in our program has been achieved in recent weeks with the NDI making significant strides in developing the 22 units of the Certificate IV in Artisan Fermented Products (Distilling). As of the date of writing the report, it has completed 15 of the 22 units.

The National Distilling Institute has two cohorts doing Certificate IV in Artisan Fermented Products (Distilling). 22 Victorian Distillers enrolled and started the course with another 15 placements at the end of 2024.

104 students from 70 Victorian Eligible Commercial Distilleries (ECD) have done a micro-credential.

This week information sessions on the Certificate IV in Artisan Fermented Products (Distilling) have taken place and we look to enrol a new cohort of student in the coming month.

We recently hosted a delegation from our colleagues from DISCUS. They were able to share key insights in policy formulation, stakeholder engagement, member services, government lobbying and industry trends. Last year DISCUS hosted a delegation of Australian producers at their annual conference and the offices in Washington.

  

Distilled Spirits Aotearoa welcome us at their Annual conference where we were able to share our insights from the Australian perspective and have a better understanding of the New Zealand experience. We have a lot of very similar policy issues. We share FSANZ, and workplace health rules. We have similar issues of market access and excise challenges. We regularly invite the DSA to attend the ADA conference, and we continue to the partnership.

  

Thank you to every member who participated in the campaign to call on their local MP to support our request for a Parliamentary Inquiry into the Australian spirits Industry. The Minister for Industry, the Hon Ed Husic MP announced the Parliamentary Inquiry into Food and Beverage Manufacturing in Australia. We established a Taskforce to ensure we as an industry maximise the benefits of this critical and hard-fought opportunity. Members may be aware that more than half of the submissions to the inquiry came from the spirits industry and associated supply chain. This was a mammoth task and thank you to all who participated in the process.

Special thanks to the members who appeared before the committee and hosted the committee at site visits. I have no doubt the Parliamentary Committee have a deeper understanding of the issues that are facing our industry. More significantly, they have a better understanding of the opportunities that lie ahead.

  

We argued that the Australian Spirits Industry could be a $1Billion export industry by 2035 if the Government got the policy settings right. Just like the wine industry, a generation before us, with a focussed and coordinated response, and just the right incentives in place, our industry can flourish.

We told the committee that Spirits production is not new to Australia; however, the modern craft spirits industry is still emerging, having been dormant for a long time. Decisions by successive Australian governments had a disastrous effect on the local spirits industry. This led to the closure of most large-scale domestic spirits production in Australia.

Today, there are now 700 distilleries – half of them in regional Australia, bringing important economic benefits to these communities.

The Australian distilling industry should be integral to the government’s Future Made in Australia policy. However, the government’s outdated policy settings and inaction has placed Australian-made spirits at a significant competitive disadvantage in our home market and abroad.

The current policy settings are a tax on premiumisation and a handbrake to growth – and are at odds with consumer trends.

A recent report by Mandala shows that with the right policy interventions and support, Australian spirits manufacturing could grow to be a $1 billion export industry by 2035.

Just as previous governments recognised the potential of Australian wine, with the right policy settings and infrastructure, Australian spirits can become the next export powerhouse.

Consumers know that nothing tastes like Australia. Australia outclasses the world’s best in terms of quality, innovation and flavour.

This is evidenced by Australia taking home prestigious international honours like:

We have the natural advantages, the unique Australian agricultural inputs, native and indigenous ingredients, the climate, and the innovation, that differentiate Australian spirits from the rest of the world.

The risk is that other spirits markets will outpace Australian distillers from realising the potential to capture global consumers who value provenance, quality, and premium and distinctive spirits.

We emphasised to the committee that if we do not act now, Australian distillers will lose market share – that we have every right to claim – to other new world and emerging spirits markets. This will be an opportunity missed.

A generation ago, in a Parliamentary Committee just like this one, gave the wine industry the recognition, direction, and support it needed to become the industry it is today.

We called on the committee to adopt all our recommendations. They all need to be done.

If they do so, Australian spirits will truly become an export powerhouse and a domestic growth success story.

Ahead of the report being finalised, the Australian Distillers Board met to discuss an engagement strategy for each of the recommendations in the submission. The Board also agreed that whilst they will develop a strategy for each of the themes, it would be prudent to determine a focus for achievable, relevant and impactful outcomes in line with government priorities.

The strategy focuses on developing a theme that has a broader benefit to members and is consistent with an industry wide approach, that of an Export Assistance Package.

Trade Assistance Package

The Australian spirits industry could be a $1 billion exporter by 2035, with the support of the Federal Government to deliver the policy interventions needed to realise this potential.

In delivering such support, the Government will create the conditions for the industry to thrive in both international and domestic trading environments, delivering support across three key areas: trade tools, trade promotion and product integrity.

Further details of the strategy will be provided in the following months.

If any member has anything to add to the discussion, they are invited to email the CEO directly with their comments.

The following information covers the key areas of the export assistance package.

Trade Tools

Delivering the frameworks and tools to support increased trade in Australian spirits.

Trade Promotion

Building the profile and reputation of the Australian spirits category

Product integrity

Protecting the reputation and quality of spirits