Belinda Hazell

Belinda is passionate about food and the stories behind it. She also has a love for the land and how it is farmed, which has seen her become a leading advocate for the agricultural sector.

Belinda has a Master of Business Administration (Agricultural Innovation) from the University of Tasmania. She is Emeritus Chair of Tasmanian Women in Agriculture, Board Director of Freshcare Limited and Rural Business Tasmania, Director and Deputy Chair on the Board of the Tasmanian Environmental Protection Authority and has held various local, state, and national leadership roles.

In 2022, Belinda was awarded an Order of Australia Medal for services to primary industries. She was also recognised by Women in Leadership Australia as the Tasmanian recipient of the 2021 Australian Awards for Excellence in Women's Leadership.

Belinda is Principal Consultant at Optimum Standard, a Tasmanian based consultancy business that is proud to help build better futures for business.

Belinda has a long connection with food production, having worked in several key roles within a large multi-division family business, which included her family's horticulture and mixed farming enterprises.

Belinda specialises in transforming management systems into business assets, consulting across various industry sectors including agribusiness and agritourism, food production, food manufacturing, waste, transport, shipping, warehousing, and health and disability.

Belinda uses her positive attitude and tireless energy to enable women's voices to be heard and valued. This is demonstrated by her courage in speaking personally about sexual harassment in rural workplaces which led to a Tasmanian campaign aimed at improving respect in rural workplaces. She believes that there are many issues impacting rural women that remain invisible until shared.