After more than six years on the Dairysafe Board, George Kamencak has developed a strong understanding of both the South Australian dairy industry and the important role effective regulation plays in protecting consumers and supporting a successful sector.
Now beginning his third three-year term, George brings continuity and considerable regulatory expertise to the Board at a time when Dairysafe continues to strengthen its risk-based approach to food safety regulation.
George didn’t come to Dairysafe with a background in dairy or agriculture. Instead, he brings decades of experience in consumer protection, competition and consumer law, governance, risk, compliance and regulation.
Over two terms, he has combined that expertise with an increasingly deep understanding of Dairysafe and the businesses it regulates. “For me, the key attraction and the reason I enjoy this role is that I’m passionate about consumer protection issues and safety, and broadly, regulatory practice,” George said.
It’s an area George knows well. An experienced lawyer and strategic leader, he has more than 25 years’ experience in competition, consumer and regulatory law across the public and private sectors, with expertise spanning regulatory law, corporate governance, compliance and risk management.
George is Director at CCL Consultants, a legal, risk and compliance consultancy, and balances this with the role of Executive Director, Delivery, Evaluation and Enforcement with the Essential Services Commission of South Australia, an economic regulator responsible for sectors including electricity, gas, water, rail, ports and local government.
While regulating essential services may seem a long way from dairy food safety, George sees a strong connection between the two.
“The common thread is protecting consumers, understanding risk and ensuring regulation delivers the outcomes it was designed to achieve,” George said.
His career has also included senior roles with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), Australian Government Solicitor and South Australian Consumer and Business Services, where he served as Deputy Commissioner and for periods as Acting Commissioner for Consumer Affairs, Liquor and Gambling.
George has also worked in private legal practice and academia, including teaching consumer law practice through the Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice offered by the Law Society of South Australia.
Regulation that works
George believes one of the most important responsibilities of a regulator is to apply the regulatory framework to protect consumers while encouraging businesses to achieve best practice.
For Dairysafe, that means keeping the safety of dairy products and the protection of consumers at the centre of decision-making, while also understanding the businesses being regulated and recognising that different risks require different responses.
It is an approach he has championed throughout his time on the Board. “Good regulation is understanding where the risks are and applying a risk-based approach,” George said.
That can mean education and working constructively with businesses to help them understand and meet their obligations. At other times, where the risks are greater, or standards are not being met, a firmer regulatory response may be needed.
“We don’t want to be heavy-handed or interventionist where we don’t need to be, and that’s where there’s a role for education and helping businesses,” he said.
George believes Dairysafe has continued to evolve its approach over his six years on the Board, increasingly focusing its resources and regulatory attention on the areas of greatest risk.
Ultimately, the goal is twofold: protecting consumers while helping dairy businesses continue to operate safely and successfully, with the strong reputation of the South Australian dairy sector intact.
Building a strong food safety culture
One area of Dairysafe’s work that has been particularly rewarding for George is its focus on building a strong dairy food safety culture in South Australia.
During his first two terms, George was closely involved with the Dairysafe Food Safety Culture Awards, serving on the judging panel and visiting businesses that had nominated for the awards.
Those visits allowed him to see firsthand how businesses were embedding food safety into their everyday operations, rather than treating compliance simply as a set of requirements to be met.
For George, the connection between organisational culture and safe food is clear. “A good, strong food safety culture can really underpin a good compliance culture,” he said.
“That, in turn, creates an environment where people feel able to identify issues, talk openly about risks and continually improve the way food safety is managed.”
