Robbie Sefton AM is a respected leader and influencer in rural and regional Australia, and Managing Director of Seftons, a national strategic communication consultancy with its heart, soul and business in rural Australia. For more than 25 years Seftons has provided high-level strategic communications and marketing strategies, leadership development programs, and community consultation services for corporate and government clients.
Robbie is a strategic adviser and non-executive director with experience in government, corporate, not-for-profit sectors, and achievements in financial management and cultural change. Highly connected with decision-makers across political, corporate and grass roots sectors, Robbie is a passionate non-political commentator and advocate on the issues faced by rural, regional and remote communities.
She also serves on a number of national boards, including headspace, Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, CRC for High Performing Soils and Watertrust Australia, and has completed terms as Chair of the Independent Panel Assessing Socio and Economic Conditions in Basin Communities and Deputy Chair of the National Australia Day Council.
Robbie is also a farmer, and with her husband, Alistair Yencken, operates a grazing and cropping property near Tamworth, NSW. They are committed to running a productive and profitable farming operation whilst having effective environmental and sustainability initiatives in place. The pair have planted more than 50,000 trees on their previous and current properties, fenced off creeks and waterways, created biodiversity corridors and used no-till and other best-practice farming techniques to encourage healthy soils with a long-term conservation program for their farm.
Having grown up and worked in rural and regional Australia for most of her life, Robbie has a clear and passionate vision for these areas, wanting ‘dynamic, prosperous and sustainable communities that are great places to live and work, particularly for our young people’.