The Mulloon Institute Limited is seeking passionate and experienced Non-Executive Directors to join our Board and drive forward our mission of catchment and landscape rehydration and regenerative farming both locally and across Australia.
Mulloon Institute is a globally recognised not-for-profit research, education, and advocacy organisation established in 2011 by Tony and Toni Coote. We are pioneers in landscape restoration, demonstrating innovative land management approaches that create healthier landscapes with greater resilience to climatic extremes.
Our vision, mission and actions are stated in our Strategic Plan 2025-28 (Vision & Mission – Mulloon Institute):
National and international recognition: The Institute has been selected by the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network as one of only five projects globally to help develop guidelines for sustainable, profitable and productive farming. We are increasingly receiving national and international recognition – for example in the past 18 months we have won the Biodiversity category at the 36th National Banksia Sustainability Awards and were invited to speak at the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) COP16 in Riyadh.
Mulloon Institute operates under a skills-based Board of Directors governance model. We are seeking candidates with extensive skills and experience in at least one of the following key areas:
Priority Skills Areas:
Additional Valued Capabilities:
Mandatory Requirements (All Directors):
Essential Criteria:
We are seeking candidates who demonstrate:
Candidates must demonstrate expertise and experience in one or more of the priority skills areas, with a comprehensive understanding of sustainable agriculture and environmental restoration principles.
Board Meetings
Committee Work
Directors may also be appointed to the following committees:
Additional Responsibilities
An annual meeting schedule is provided each May for the following year.
Required Documentation:
Selection Process:
Legal Structure:
Annual Reports: Available at mullooninstitute.org
Operations:
Key Partners: Australian National University, Australian Government (including the DAFF Future Drought Fund), Landcare, New South Wales Government (including the Department of Primary Industries), University of Canberra, University of Melbourne, various state agencies, Vitasoy and WaterNSW
Major Projects: Mulloon Rehydration Initiative (23,000 hectares, 50km of waterways)
Sponsors and partners: Sponsors & Funders – Mulloon Institute
For a confidential discussion about these positions or to learn more about the role requirements, please contact:
Tony O’Leary
O’Leary & Partners
Phone: 0413 047 778
Email: tony@olearypartners.com.au
Additional information about our work and impact can be found at:
Applications close: 5:00 PM (AEDT), Monday 8 September 2025
To apply: Please submit your complete application, including all required documentation to: tony@olearypartners.com.au
Mulloon Institute is committed to diversity and inclusion. We encourage applications from candidates of all backgrounds, including women, Indigenous Australians, people from culturally diverse backgrounds, and individuals with lived experience of rural and regional communities.
We are particularly interested in candidates who share our passion for environmental restoration, regenerative agriculture, and creating resilient landscapes that benefit both farming communities and the environment.
Invited by Michael Andrews, Bundanon’s Natural Resources Manager, we were welcomed with generosity and a moving smoking ceremony from Bob, a First Nations Burrawong dhunna gam waglpa man.
The ever‑engaging Clarence Slockee guided the day with warmth and humour, making everyone feel at ease.
This year’s theme, Hidden Messages from the Shoalhaven’s Ecologies, brought together leading scientists, landscape managers and cultural practitioners to share insights “from bees and bristlebirds to moss, wombats and water” — exploring the deep connections between species, ecosystems, and cultural knowledge.
Pictured top right of page: from L-R Clarence Slockee, Nolani McColl, Erin Healy and Bill Gammage standing together in front of the Shoalhaven River.
Pictured right: Erin Healy’s presentation on community-led water stewardship.
Erin Healy, Environmental Engineer and Program Manager at Mulloon Institute, presented Restoring Landscapes with Community‑led Water Stewardship, weaving in the dynamics of feedback loops and tipping points that shape community momentum in restoration. She also shared the success of the Communities of Practice approach across the Mulloon Rehydration Initiative, the Communities of Practice Project, and our new partnership with WaterNSW.
With blue skies overhead, delicious local catering, and the chance to join bushwalks and birdwatching, the day was as nourishing for the spirit as it was for the mind. Highlights included meeting specialists in wombats, koalas, mosses, and native bees, and conversations with Bill Gammage — author of The Biggest Estate on Earth — and his wife Jan, about landscape function and the profound land‑use changes of the past two centuries.
A heartfelt thanks to Andrew and Millie for being such generous hosts and for the opportunity to be part of this special gathering at Bundanon.
The Water Stewardship Program is supported by funding from WaterNSW and The Ian Potter Foundation.
Hosted by the Bombay Landcare Group, Erin Brinkley with Upper Shoalhaven Landcare, and the ever-welcoming Helen at The Saddle Camp, the day marked the beginning of a new chapter in landscape restoration for the Bombay Creek catchment and community.
Presenters Peter Hazell and Erin Healy from Mulloon Institute led engaging indoor and outdoor sessions that explored the movement, storage, and cycling of water through our landscapes. Participants learned how to read water processes to interpret landscape health and discussed the challenges posed by the classic Bombay soil type – locally known as the “Bombay Spew!”
Pictured right: Peter Hazell and Erin Healy doing the classic Mulloon-Balloon demo!
The weather danced between sunshine and drizzle, but spirits remained high. Even a soggy moment with the whiteboard couldn’t dampen the enthusiasm. The Saddle Camp provided a cozy space for connection and co-learning!
This field day also marked the launch of a Landscape Rehydration Community of Practice and Demonstration Site in the Bombay Creek catchment. Supported by Mulloon Institute’s Water Stewardship Program, this initiative will empower local landholders to collaborate on regenerative water and land management projects over the coming years. Watch this space for more information on an upcoming Bootcamp (once the weather warms up) and a series of on-ground project sites in this area.
If would like to know more about Mulloon’s Water Stewardship Program or the opportunity for on-ground works and events in your community, visit out Projects page.
This program is supported by funding from WaterNSW and The Ian Potter Foundation.
Pictured right: The group explored the best-practice and key principles when it comes to halting active erosion.
Pictured below: Don Woods shares their early introduction to Mulloon and their own Landscape Rehydration and biodiversity projects over the recent years.
We have been very pleased to have Matt Smith join our team, who comes to us with significant experience in project management and delivery, as well as a keen interest in agriculture, spending his spare time with family on his own property near Toowoomba.
June was the official completion month for the Communities of Practice Project (CoPP), and I would like to thank our Learning Programs Manager, Tam Connor, with the close support of Dr Laura Fisher, and the rest of the MC team who presented field days, bootcamps, provided mentoring support to landholders and delivered boots on ground days. We also had the eastern and western Professionals Intensives for NRM professionals. It has been a fantastic project, leaving five communities in NSW, WA, Victoria, NT and Queensland with increased capacity to keep undertaking landscape rehydration projects, as well as the completion of numerous on-ground works as demonstration sites to inspire other land managers.
The Water Stewardship Program (WSP) is in full swing with six communities in the Sydney Drinking Water Catchment committed and a lot of interest from others. Field days are being undertaken (with more Learning Programs activities to come), EOI’s are flowing in, and individual project plans are being developed for the demonstration sites. We are looking forward to construction on some of these projects in spring.
Peter Hazell is on his last construction project, on Larry’s Creek to the west of Canberra at the Deep Space Communications Complex, and is joined by Jack Smart, Tony Wells and Mitch Lennon. Peter has pioneered the field of Landscape Rehydration, leading its technical design discipline, advancing the underlying science, and helping to drive regulatory reform to create more streamlined pathways for this vital work on Country. It’s been a privilege to work with him.
We also have construction happening on the second stage of the Carwoola Station component of the Molonglo Catchment Rehydration Initiative, the floodplain earthworks, which includes two constructed wetlands designed as part of the crucial habitat for the Green and Golden Bellfrog. Congratulations to Jack on the final stages of this very important project.
Pictured right: Peter Hazell and Erin Healy presenting at the Water Stewardship Program field day in Braidwood.
During winter, we have been relatively quiet on the Learning Programs front (with the exception of field days at Tuntable Creek and Braidwood), although Lance Mudgway has a number of field days coming up in WA, including one at Boyup Brook that is happening as part of the Regen WA conference activities. Keep an eye on our Events page as more Learning Programs activities are scheduled over spring and summer.
Work on our other major projects, LiFT, First Nations Water Skills, and TIMME have kept the rest of our team very busy. A literature review for LiFT is in the final stages of review, the monitoring matrix has been developed, and the next step will be a thorough review of these outputs with consortium partners. Planning for the TIMME project is well underway, and initial engagement with a couple of the communities is happening. The co-design process with consortium members is the next step over the coming months. Sophie Hall-Aspland and Brooke Cunningham recently joined Lance in WA to meet with representatives of Noongar Land Enterprises and Boyup Brook landholders, Warren and Lori Pensini, as part of the LiFT and TIMME projects.
Lance and Henry Burt are currently in Darwin as part of a project that we are doing for Landcare NT, assessing the current state, function and potential for nature-based solutions across key waterways as part of their Darwin Harbour Catchment Waterways project.
There’s plenty planned as we go into the warmer spring months, so look out for the coverage of that in the next update. We also have a new team member, Ryan Badowski, joining the team on the first day of spring!
This is my last report as GM of Mulloon Consulting. While my decision to move on has not been an easy one, the fact that the business is in good shape with a fantastic team and a good pipeline of ongoing work made me feel more comfortable with the timing. I remain a huge supporter of what Mulloon does and I wish the team all the best with continuing to do great work around the country, and our landscapes will be a whole lot better off for it.
Jono Forrest
General Manager
Mulloon Consulting
Pictured right: Jono receiving a farewell gift from Carolyn Hall and Kathy Kelly on Home Farm recently.
Location: Flexible workplace, Canberra region preferred
Type: Part-time, senior executive level
Closing date: 19 September 2025
Drive financial excellence in environmental innovation
Are you a strategic finance leader passionate about environmental impact? Join Mulloon Institute as Chief Financial Officer and play a pivotal role in scaling world-class research and landscape restoration initiatives that are transforming Australia’s agricultural future.
About Mulloon Institute
We’re not just another research organisation – we’re pioneers in landscape restoration and rehydration. Our groundbreaking work helps landholders restore natural landscape function, rebuild soil health, and create sustainable farming systems that benefit both environment and economy.
Our growing enterprise:
Discover our impact at mullooninstitute.org
Your strategic impact
As CFO, you’ll be an integral member of our executive leadership team, working directly with our CEO and board to deliver ambitious strategic goals that are literally reshaping Australia’s landscape. This isn’t a traditional finance role – it’s a leadership position where financial excellence drives environmental transformation.
Your executive responsibilities
Essential qualifications
- Financial control systems and board reporting
- Grant management and funding compliance across diverse sources
- Cash management and corporate finance
- Work-in-progress tracking for multi-year projects and consulting engagements
- Budgeting and financial risk management
- Asset management (property, people, investments)
- Insurance strategy and comprehensive risk coverage
- Banking relationship management and facility optimisation
- Compliance, taxation, and regulatory requirements
- Contract management and stakeholder reporting
- Human resource requirements
Ready to lead financial innovation in environmental change?
We’re seeking a finance leader who shares our vision for landscape restoration and wants to drive meaningful change through exceptional financial stewardship.
Apply by sending:
Questions?
Contact executive landscape planner, Nolani McColl at nolani@mullooninstitute.org
Here’s Laura in her car, with rain pouring outside, very happy to be holding the proofs of a publication she’s been wrestling into existence for 6 months – it’s a real thing!
The Regenerative Power of Water: Nature Repair in the Sydney Catchment Area was commissioned by WaterNSW as part of our Water Stewardship Program. Co-authored by several team members, it shares the context, science and practice of landscape rehydration, with plenty of visuals, fact sheets and case studies to tell the story.
Thanks to The Ian Potter Foundation’s support, we were able to work with illustrators Kim Williams and Tilda Joy to create a suite of illustrations for the report, and we’re so proud of their original work. We also love the photographic record of all the remarkable communities gaining the skills to heal landscapes and rebuild resilience through water-focused strategies.
Publication is just a few weeks away, keep an eye out for news so you can get a copy!
For National Science Week this year we are celebrating the Hydrological Landscape. And true to Mulloon form, there’s an artist involved! We commissioned illustrator Tilda Joy to help us foster wider understanding of how the hydrological features of South Eastern Australia function, how to tell if they are dysfunctional, and how we can heal them and reestablish water’s cycling, hydrating patterns across the landscape.
Tilda’s beautiful illustrations are part of a forthcoming publication we are very excited about: The Regenerative Power of Water: Nature Repair in the Sydney Catchment Area, which was commissioned by WaterNSW as part of our Water Stewardship Program. Keep an eye out on our news pages and socials for the announcement of its release so you can get a copy!
So… what hydrological feature are standing on right now ?
Hydrological functions are the processes and interactions that govern the movement, distribution, and quality of water within the environment, including on the surface of the land, in the soil and underlying rocks, in the atmosphere, and in relation to living things.
Job title: Project Manager TIMME
Job type: Full-time or part-time
Location: Not stipulated, remote working (Australia)
Supervisor/Manager: General Manager, Mulloon Consulting
Applications close: 31 August 2025
Mulloon Institute is seeking a results-driven Grant Project Manager to lead the TIMME (Training, Implementation, Mentoring, Monitoring and Evaluation) grant project. TIMME is a five-year, systems-thinking framework to build resilient communities, landscapes and natural capital at scale. The project will establish six scalable demonstration sites across Western Australia and New South Wales (four regional catchment communities and two First Nations groups), create communities of practice, and engage First Nations communities at every location. You’ll manage project delivery, stakeholder engagement, and reporting while ensuring safety, quality, and alignment with Mulloon Institute’s strategic priorities.
Role snapshot
What you’ll do (highlights)
Essential skills and qualifications
Desirable (nice-to-have)
Performance goals
Why join Mulloon?
Equal employment opportunity
Mulloon Institute and Mulloon Consulting are equal opportunity employers. We value diversity and encourage applications from all backgrounds, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, people with disabilities, and those who bring unique perspectives to our projects.
Ready to lead the landscape restoration revolution? We want to hear from you!
Apply by sending:
Questions? Contact our Executive Landscape Planner, Nolani McColl at nolani@mullooninstitute.org
Includes 6-month probationary period with annual reviews
Applications close: 31 August 2025
The Friends of Grasslands group visited the Home Farm in June and published this piece by Ann Milligan and Margaret Ning in their most recent newsletter. We’re pleased to reproduce it here with permission.
The part of Mulloon Home Farm we visited on Friday afternoon 20 June is not only beautiful but also a rich example of natural temperate grassland (NTG). Our group’s attention was engaged for over 2 hours as we wandered across the valley sides and hilltops, spotting plant species until the sun sank into the western hills.
We were welcomed and accompanied by Peter Hazell and his three offsiders (Chris, Louis and Colby) who manage the property, its vegetation, livestock, natural assets and science. After acknowledging Traditional Owners and Elders, Peter explained the importance of bringing this land (at the top of the Great Dividing Range locally) into excellent ecological condition. First, it is significant to local Indigenous groups. Second, it is in the mid-reaches of the Mulloon Creek catchment (part of the Shoalhaven River catchment) and is a demonstration area for natural rehydration of agricultural catchments.
Around 2006 the owner, the late Tony Coote, decided to test Natural Sequence Farming – a system of managing catchment water flows devised by a NSW farmer named Peter Andrews – which consists of the partial damming of natural gullies and small creeks such as occurs when, say, rocks and branches accumulate in one place. This system of leaky weirs aims to imitate the chains of ponds that used to occur naturally along creeks before Europeans started clearing land for agriculture. Often those natural ponds would stay bank-full even when the creek had long since ceased to flow, because the ponds were connected to underlying floodplain aquifers. This helped keep the surroundings alive.
The Mulloon farms and all the landholders along the Mulloon Creek are installing leaky weirs now to slow the flow of water that would otherwise drain quickly off these upland water catchments after rainfall. The resulting ponding and slower flow keep the banks above the gullies wetter (rehydrated) and better able to maintain their plant cover. Monitoring of stream flow since 2006 suggests there is no apparent detriment to the landholders downstream of Mulloon Creek along the water’s journey to the Shoalhaven.
Our group walked slowly, heads bent, cameras clicking, across the large paddocks on the hillside and hilltop and valley bottom (the subcatchment) exploring the numerous grassland species. There is a west-facing hillside stand of snow gums (Eucalyptus pauciflora), and a hilltop stand of E. mannifera, and remnant very old E. dives. There are expanses of pinkish Themeda (middle photo above) on the slopes and ridges, easily seen from a distance by the colour. Grasses on the eastern facing slope include Dichelachne. Beyond the creek at the valley bottom is a green and orange dirt heap remaining from former copper mining.
The subcatchment we explored is being considered by the NSW Biodiversity Conservation Trust for possible funding to support its management as grazed natural grassland and woodland, Peter said.
The main aim of our visit was to determine if the area we explored was in fact NTG, and it didn’t take us long to compile a plant list of just under 70 species to confirm that. In our group we had a keen lichen enthusiast who assured us that we would also have sighted a minimum of 20 lichen species (photo on the right above) during the course of the afternoon.
Thank you, Peter and team, for welcoming us and for suggesting we come back sooner rather than later!
All photos in this article are by Ann Milligan
In early June, a team of Mulloon staff working on the Landscape Function Toolkit (LiFT) came together to share ideas and run some data collection methodologies through their paces. The day was a culmination of months of research and collaboration and brought together staff from various scientific disciplines with experience as science communicators/educators, landscape planners, remote sensing specialists and engineers. This wonderful interdisciplinary convergence of diverse skills and expertise merged critical thinking and creative flow for a fantastic day together.
Measuring landscape function is nuanced and complex, requiring a whole of system approach that has led to many conversations around state and transition, flux and flow, metrics, and key aspects of landscape function. Notably, the small water cycle and its importance in a healthy landscape are front and centre of our conversations.
We began the day in the paddock, alongside Mulloon Creek to put Alex Sun’s (PhD Candidate, Sydney University) ‘Riparian Assessment Scorecard’ to the test, looking at diversity and density of riparian vegetation from trees and shrubs to grasses and forbs.
Photos below left to right: 1. Alex giving instructions to the team before doing the riparian assessment, 2. Peter Hazell at Peters Pond using the phone app version of the structure health scorecard, 3. The team discussing the merits and drawbacks of the Structure Health Scorecard, 4 & 5. Erin Healy reading the Ephemeral Drainage Assessment criteria
From there we moved across to Peters Pond to look at the first in-stream structure built along this creek system. Peter Hazell led the team through the Mulloon Institute’s ‘Structural Health Scorecard’. This scorecard is used by Mulloon to monitor the Integrity (the structures ability to withstand its intended load), and Function (how well the structure performs its intended task) of instream structures as well as assess the health, diversity and coverage of vegetation throughout the natural infrastructure.
By mid-morning we were ready to leave the frosty paddock and went in search of warming sunshine and an ephemeral drainage. We ran through the ‘Ephemeral Drainage-line Assessment: Indicators of stability’ which has been directly adapted from Tongway and Ludwig’s Landscape Function Analysis, before breaking for a well-earned lunch.
Throughout the afternoon we gathered inside and had a look at a some of the mobile phone apps currently available, and their associated desktop platform. We focused on biodiversity, vegetation and soil assessments, using Covram and SoilMentor. We ran through their various functions including user friendliness and the speed at which information collected on the app was synced across platforms. Functionality and information gathered were key focus areas.
Finally, we wrapped up the afternoon with some discussion on next steps before saying our goodbyes and heading home in various directions.
Overall, it was a fantastic day and a great opportunity to come together as a team to share knowledge and learning.
Further information on the LiFT project can be found here.
The Landscape Function Toolkit (LiFT) project is a climate resilience project funded by the Australian Government under the National Heritage Trust’s Climate-Smart Agriculture Program.