Citrus Australia’s head office is based in Mildura, Victoria. Our staff includes a small, dedicated and passionate team of people, working to both develop and support the Citrus Industry.
Nathan Hancock
Nathan Hancock is the CEO of Citrus Australia. Since his appointment as CEO in late 2017, Nathan has led new initiatives in expanding market access, fruit quality and strengthening biosecurity. He has expanded the business in that time to meet growing international demand for Australian citrus and also to advocate for the needs of Australian growers to government. He was recognised for his leadership and representation of the citrus industry during the citrus canker outbreak in 2018 and subsequent recovery efforts. Nathan first joined Citrus Australia in 2011. Before taking the reins as CEO, he implemented maturity and quality standards in the national industry and improved industry statistics, including the citrus tree census, national plantings database, and production forecast model.
David Daniels
David has a background in food service with a formal qualification in food technology.
His role at Citrus Australia has recently expanded from Market Access Manager to General Manager Market Development. His role is to engage with the sector and provide technical advice to government to overcome technical trade barriers in the area of biosecurity, agrichemicals and food safety.
Claire Fitchett
Claire joined Citrus Australia in September 2021 with the primary role of developing opportunities for the Australian citrus industry in India. Claire has worked in horticulture exports since 2012, having previously held export development roles at Apple & Pear Australia and Hort Innovation. She was the Export Manager at Montague for five years, one of Australia’s largest apple and stonefruit growers and has experienced first-hand the highs and lows of export. Claire has an extensive network across the private and public sectors and thrives on making international opportunities a reality for growers. Claire holds a Bachelor of International Business and a post graduate qualification in Asian Studies.
Mara Milner
Mara Milner has a biological science degree from Deakin University and has worked in a number of food safety laboratories including almost ten years in one of the citrus industry’s largest export packing houses Mildura Fruit Company. Mara was successful in obtaining a Citrus Australia travel bursary to attend the 2012 International Citrus Congress in Spain whilst working in the citrus industry. Mara has experience in food and fruit maturity testing, chemical reside testing, quality and food safety compliance and training, reporting and grower communication.
Olivia Tait
Olivia works within the trade and market access team as a resource dedicated to the Australian juice sector. This is a newly created role to primarily service the needs of the juice sector to ultimately improve the profitability and viability of juice production and processing in Australia. Olivia comes to the role with a broad range of experience that runs right along the supply and value chain, and has worked in the private sector, state government, and with peak industry bodies.
Paul Stephens
Paul joined Citrus Australia in October 2021 to work in conjunction with the University of New England, NSW, on the geo-space mapping of citrus farms around Australia. Growers will be able to see this exciting new project on our website in 2022. Paul comes to Citrus Australia with previous experience in viticulture, and a Bachelor’s Degree in Archaeology. Paul will work at Citrus Australia in a part time capacity until September 2022.
Jessica Lye
Jessica Lye joined Citrus Australia in June 2021 to coordinate activities within CitrusWatch, a national citrus industry biosecurity preparedness and exotic pest surveillance program. She has previously been involved in preparedness, response, and management activities for a variety of exotic species, including: Tomato Potato Psyllid, Cucumber Green Mottle Mosaic Virus, Spotted Winged Drosophila, Russian Wheat Aphid and Fall Armyworm. Prior roles include Biosecurity Manager at Ausveg, and researcher/science communicator at Cesar Australia.
Matt Jones
Matt joined Citrus Australia in June 2023. He is responsible for the delivery of Citrus Australia's communications program, which includes the production of the quarterly Australian Citrus News magazine, The Full Bottle podcast and the monthly Citrus eNews newsletter. He also handles media requests and Citrus Australia's corporate partnerships. Prior to joining Citrus Australia, Matt worked for Fruitnet Media, where he served as the Editor of Produce Plus magazine for over five years.
Jacqui Mitchell
Jacqui works alongside Citrus Australia’s Biosecurity Manager, Jessica Lye, to promote the importance of a robust biosecurity system and improve industry preparedness in the event of an incursion. Jacqui engages with urban communities in high-density areas to encourage the monitoring of pests and diseases through CitrusWatch’s Early Detector Network. Prior to joining Citrus Australia in late 2023, Jacqui was a TAFE lecturer at Charles Darwin University in the Northern Territory. She holds a Bachelor of Science and a Cert III in Horticulture.
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