Meet The Team

Founder & Managing Director

Robbie is the managing director of Seftons. She leads the team and specialises in facilitating groups through contentious and challenging issues. A producer of wool, meat and grains, Robbie is a graduate of the Australian Rural Leadership Program, the 2002 RIRDC NSW Rural Woman of the Year and a member of numerous boards and advisory groups for governments, businesses and not-for-profits. Since 1990 she has lived, worked and travelled all over regional, rural and remote Australia as a rural leader and advocate. She is known and respected by farmers, agribusiness, Ministers, and people at all levels in between.

(CPA, BComm) – Chief Financial Officer

Sean is a business consultant with over 20 years experience spanning sectors including information technology, biotechnology, insurance and communications / public relations. Sean is a member of the Certified Practicing Accountant’s (CPA’s) and has a Bachelor of Commerce. Seans work at Seftons includes strategic advice and management of the finance function in a CFO capacity.

(BAppSciComm) – Account Director

Jayne is a senior communications practitioner with more than 15 years’ experiencing working across a broad range of sectors including agriculture, government, finance, telecommunications, education and FMCG. She is part of Seftons’ leadership team, offering strategic planning, corporate communications and government relations services for Seftons’ client portfolio. Her skills lie in stakeholder engagement, issues and crisis management, corporate reputation management, government communication, internal communications and media relations. Prior to joining Seftons, Jayne worked in multi-national public relations agencies leading consumer and corporate & finance teams.

Senior Advisor

Colin was Canberra Bureau Chief for Fairfax Agricultural/Rural Media for eight years (2010 to 2018). In this capacity he produced breaking news, feature articles, opinion and analysis, multi-media and digital photographs for publication in weekly newspapers for the Fairfax/Rural Media Group and online news articles. This work covered core issues concerning the rural and farming sectors relating to federal politics, legislation, farm production and agricultural economics, including trade and policy advocacy. He has a strong understanding of the water sector, drought and farm sector. More recently, Colin was a senior media advisor to Deputy Prime Minister, Michael McCormack (2018 to 2019).

(BAComms) – Account Director

Tania is a specialist communications consultant with over 20 years’ experience working with global and local brands to develop strategic marketing and communications campaigns. She is passionate about purpose driven campaigns with recent work in rural mental health, environmental sustainability and organic farming practices for clients including Woolworths, Westpac Agribusiness, Case IH Australia, CopRice and RIRDC Rural Women’s Award. Tania has spent a large part of her career working in multinational PR agencies leading teams across healthcare, technology, agriculture and agribusiness, consumer and B2B clients.

(BAgrib) – Account Director

With a background in agriculture and agribusiness, Laura has extensive experience in agri-marketing and communications, media relations, strategy, digital and social media and event management. Prior to joining the team, Laura worked as a Senior Project Manager for the Foundation for Regional Development and with the Cancer Council Queensland in their state fundraising and events team. Laura has managed programs for clients including Case IH Australia, Westpac Agribusiness, Meat & Livestock Australia, Australian Meat Processor Corporation, CWA of NSW, RIRDC Rural Women’s Award and Syngenta. In addition to her role as Account Director, Laura also manages the strategic program office function within the business.

Account Director

Jenny is a communication and marketing professional with experience working in government and the private sector. She worked for over eight years at the senior executive level leading communication teams at Medicare Australia, the Department of Human Services and the Department of Agriculture and Water Resources. Jenny has worked communicating biosecurity messages and managing associated issues and incidents while at the Department of Agriculture. She has more recently worked with clients on water and land management strategies and issues management. She has strong stakeholder management skills and has worked across levels of government and industry to deliver outcomes.

(BAPol) – Account Director

Jennifer is an expert in communication, stakeholder engagement, project management and governance, with wide ranging experience across government and industry. She excels at complex projects, working creatively at a high-level across policy communications and strategy. Jennifer has extensive experience with governments across the Asia Pacific on development and policy issues and providing strategic advice on issues of governance. She has a strong rural and regional focus, favouring issues of leadership and communication.

Account Director

Virginia Johnstone’s career in public relations spans more than 15 years and includes agency and in-house experience in Australia and the UK. She has a solid track record in strategy and planning, media and stakeholder relations, issues and crisis, project management, writing and editing, social media management, brand image and business profiling, sponsorship leverage and media training. Virginia has worked across a variety of sectors on both business-to-consumer and business-to-business campaigns for well-known brands and organisations.

(BAppSci Hons) – Senior Account Manager

With a background in scientific research, stakeholder relations, sales, brand management and online and print communication, Alison has a strong ability to distil complex messages into clear communications. She has worked at the Australian Institute of Sport, the Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DSTO) and with niche and regional food and wine producers in brand management. Her writing has been published in online and print publications including The Australian, Chillfactor Magazine Online, Eating and Drinking Melbourne, New England Home & Lifestyle and Downtown Magazine. Alison has a Bachelor of Applied Science (Honours) and her role includes media relations across traditional and digital platforms, strategy development and writing.

(BA Comms)  – Senior Account Manager

Sonia is a communications and public relations specialist, with a career spanning over 20 years throughout Australia and in Asia. She has developed her extensive skills set through working with numerous public relations and communication agencies and managing their portfolios of domestic and international clients.

Sonia’s career background includes publishing, communications and extensive work with and within the media sector.  She’s has a passion for meeting people and is a strong communicator who has extensive experience with integrated brand management, media relations, stakeholder relations, hosting events, corporate and consumer communications, corporate social responsibility initiatives and sponsorship leveraging. Her varied sector experience includes working within the agribusiness, aviation, sharing economy, mining, construction, tourism, technology, corporate, manufacturing, financial, retail and healthcare sectors.

Account Director

With more than 20 years’ public relations experience, Katie has delivered stakeholder engagement, investor relations and communications strategy development services to a broad range of sectors including government, utilities, technology and insurance. Katie is a results-focussed communicator with strong written, verbal and interpersonal skills. Prior to joining Seftons, Katie managed communications for several ASX listed companies and worked in a public relations consultancy in Melbourne.

(BBus Comms – Journalism) – Account Manager

Prior to starting at Seftons, Kylie worked as a journalist for more than 20 years, writing for a raft of regional newspapers and developing an intimate understanding of, and passion for, rural and regional Australia. She reported on local government, federal and state politics, education, health and law and order, and developed an appreciation for the issues affecting these sectors and how they impact on country communities. Her final newsroom role was as chief-of-staff for then Fairfax regional daily The Northern Daily Leader, where she worked for 15 years, helping set the news agenda for the publication and drive campaigns for positive change in the local community. Since starting at Seftons, Kylie has used this knowledge and the skills learned as a reporter to develop and undertake media relations activities and campaigns for a host of not-for-profit organisations, government agencies and private enterprise, while also helping to design communications and issues management strategies. Kylie contributes across client social media and event management activities, and has assisted with community consultation and stakeholder engagement projects.

Account Manager

Mitchell has recently joined Seftons working on projects in the agriculture sector.  Mitchell is a sheep and beef producer at Armidale NSW and brings a strong agricultural background and problem solving capacity. With more than ten years experience working in many agricultural industries including cropping, irrigation, livestock and horticulture in NSW, Vic and Tasmania, he understands the industry from both a producers perspective and from the top down and is comfortable working at both the strategic level as well as working with producers. Mitchell is a director of an agtech company and has volunteered his time working on industry based projects.

Writer

Matt is a professional writer with more than 20 years’ experience as a senior journalist, science and environment writer and national issues writer for Fairfax media. He currently contributes as a communications professional within the education sector. Matt was the 2016 recipient of the NSW Farm Writers & Australian Council of Agricultural Journalists Star Prize for Rural Writing, and second in the 2016 International Federation of Agricultural Journalists John Deere Print Award.

Digital Marketing Consultant

With a background in marketing, Olivia has extensive experience in digital marketing, social media marketing, strategy and search engine optimisation. Prior to joining the team, Olivia worked with Yahoo7, her first in-house role after 5 years of working with numerous digital agencies across multiple blue chip clients.

(BBus Tourism Mgt) – Senior Team Administrator & Executive Assistant to Ms Robbie Sefton

With a background in administration, business and events, Monique has worked in a variety of roles within the tourism, hospitality, fashion and retail industries including in local government. Monique has a Bachelor of Business in Tourism Management and her role at Seftons includes executive assistance to our Managing Director as well as administration, office management and finance support at the Tamworth office.

Account Coordinator & Team Administrator

Kimberly has joined Seftons with a background in agriculture, having previously worked as an Animal Nutritionist and Area Sales Manager with a leading multinational feed and FCMG company. Kimberly has had exposure across a range of agriculture industries, research institutions  and directly with the farming community. Kimberly enjoys working with clients, understanding their needs and tailoring solutions to meet their communication and PR goals. Kimberly is based in Tamworth and was raised on a mixed farming property in central west NSW, which has greatly shaped her interest and passion in agriculture, providing her with direct insight into factors impacting regional Australia.