Australian Industrial Hemp Conference will run across four days
The Australian Industrial Hemp Conference will return in 2026 with a four-day program in Geelong covering construction materials, policy, trade and crop research.
Its 2026 theme is “Growing Together”. Organisers say that theme reflects the event’s aim since its first edition in 2018 to improve cooperation between growers, processors, businesses and researchers.
Day 1 focuses on materials and the built environment. Topics include hempcrete, hemp composites, prefabrication, fibre testing and processing, and construction applications.
That stream includes presenters from Otetto, Australian Hemp Masonry, CSIRO and Deakin University. Designer Joost Bakker is also scheduled to discuss the Zac Effron residential hemp build.
Advanced Fibres and Deakin’s Carbon Nexus and fibre testing facility are also part of that section of the program. Organisers describe Geelong as a natural fibre and building-materials hub for that work.
Senate inquiry and crop systems feature on day two
Day 2 turns to policy and the Federal Senate Inquiry into the industrial hemp industry. Senator Richard Colbeck is due to present the inquiry findings with Rachel Payne MP, Maxine Shea from iHemp NSW and Hemp Collective, and Australian Hemp Council president Matt Lariba-Taing.
Meanwhile, Dr Ernesto Valenzuela of La Trobe University will present a global production and trade report. That session adds international market context to the domestic regulatory discussion.
Later on Day 2, the program shifts to agronomy, genetics and cropping systems. Rob Eccles will chair part of that stream.
Subjects in the afternoon include new hemp varieties, QTL mapping, AgriFutures Industrial Hemp Variety Trials, grain and winter cropping, grazing applications, and life-cycle assessments of cropping systems.
Researchers and institutions involved in that section include Southern Cross University, Deakin University, and the NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development.
The conference closes with a session titled “Where to Next?” chaired by Phil Warner. It will include a presentation on the AgriFutures Program of Research from Professor Tobias Kretzschmar.
The final discussion also includes a TCI Network session titled (what, who, how & when). Organisers say that closing section brings together views on the industry’s direction.
The organisers did not provide event dates, venue details in Geelong or ticket prices in the information released on 25/08/2026. They also did not say how many speakers will attend across the four days.
