AWB Limited - History of The Company

History of The Company

The AWB was founded in the late 1930s, to regulate the wheat market after the excesses of the Great Depression. The single desk dates to this period. This type of arrangement was not unique to Australia, as the Canadian Wheat Board was created in 1935 in a similar fashion (but its history dates back to an earlier wheat marketing board created during the Great War, and also includes the experience of cooperative wheat pools during the 1920s).

For much of its early history, it was a government-run and owned company. From July 1999 however, its board was restructured into a private company. It offered 'class A' shares to those who meet its definition of 'growers' and who had the ability to elect the majority of its board and chairperson, and from August 2001, 'class B' were publicly traded on the Australian Stock Exchange. In 2008, constitutional amendments were passed. Despite resistance from several wheat lobbies and industry groups, it consolidated ownership of AWB into one type of share, giving growers no special consideration. This change was proposed by the AWB management as necessarily to having a simpler, lower-risk business model.

Since privatisation, AWB has grown to incorporate a number of subsidiaries to diversify its income away from its wheat exports. Its subsidiary businesses include GrainFlow to manage collection of grain from farmers to ports, companies to ship the grain overseas to customers, and Landmark rural services.

By its own estimation, AWB is now a "grower owned and controlled company".