Vinehealth Australia appoints new CEO after year-long search

Yesterday, Vinehealth Australia announced that Samantha Scarratt will be starting on as the company’s new CEO, effective immediately. In starting the new position, Scarratt will be filling the role vacated by Inca Lee, who left the company in June 2023 after being appointed the new CEO of the South Australian Wine Industry Association. Since then, Vinehealth Australia’s Technical Assistant Warren Birchmore has been acting as Interim Manager.

“The appointment follows a national recruitment campaign to find a strong leader for Vinehealth Australia, an independent statutory authority in South Australia,” said Vinehealth Australia in a statement issued to media.

Samantha Scarratt brings with her experience working across grape supply, viticulture, consultancy, and advisory. As Vinehealth Australia’s CEO, she will focus her efforts on propelling the company’s “single-minded focus on grape and wine biosecurity, primarily keeping phylloxera out of the state.

“​Sam is an experienced leader and most recently was a Senior Consultant for Wine Network Consulting, specialising in viticulture and wine business advice,” continued Vinehealth Australia’s statement. 

“Previously, Sam was Director of Grape Supply for Accolade Wines, leading a large team to deliver grapes to winery networks across Australia and New Zealand.”

Scarratt is also a current Research Advisory Committee Member at Australian Grape & Wine and a Board Director at both the Australian Society of Viticulture and Oenology and the Australian Wine Industry Technical Committee. 

Additionally, prior to starting at Accolade Wines, she spent 12 years working in various viticulture roles at Lion’s Withers Hill vineyard in Marlborough, New Zealand.

Samantha Scarratt will become the fifth permanent team member of Vinehealth Australia, joining GIS Specialist Brendan Tully, Systems Manager Jo Bainbridge, Communications Advisor Cindie Smart, and Technical Assistant Warren Birchmore. 

Together, the team will continue to work on its established 2024-2026 focus areas, which include education and awareness, prevention, preparedness, response, and organisational sustainability.

“Our new plan identifies five priority areas essential to making the industry more resilient and future focused, and fulfils the functions detailed in our governing Act, the Phylloxera and Grape Industry Act 1995,” said Prue McMichael, Vinehealth Australia's Chair, upon launching the current Strategic Agenda.

“We will create solutions across the supply chain, we will minimise pest impacts, we will shape the regulatory environment, we will continue to work closely with all stakeholders and we will cement our capacity and capability to lead."

To learn more about Vinehealth Australia’s goals and to explore its publicly available resources, visit its website here.