Greyhound Racing in NSW can be the best animal racing jurisdiction in the world, and the world-leader in every facet of the industry.
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That is the vision of GRNSW's chairman Adam Casselden - and his board - speaking for the first time since he was appointed to the role five months ago.
"We can be, and I am determined that we will be," Mr Casselden said.
"It is my vision - and that of the GRNSW board - that the NSW greyhound racing industry will be the world-leader in every aspect of our business.
"We must be the gold standard to which every other racing jurisdiction aspires - the best in track safety, the best in animal welfare, the best in rehoming, the best for our participants, the best for our fans, and the best product for our bookmaking partners.
"The advances over the last few years are materially important, but the acceleration of excellence in the past 12 months sets the scene for a great future."
GRNSW recently announced that it is producing an industry strategy discussion paper about all aspects of the sport in NSW and will shortly announce a series of face-to-face town hall events across the state led by Mr Casselden and GRNSW chief executive officer Rob Macaulay.
"That's my aim, to try to get out and about as much as possible in my first 12 months, to meet as many people who are passionate about the sport," Mr Casselden said.
"As a board we are very conscious of the pressures that everyone is under, and some more than others, and that's why it is important that we get out and meet as many people as we can, look at their tracks and hear what their concerns are.
"We'll consult widely with industry on a range of topics and issues and then collaborate with clubs and the GBOTA so we can try to build some consensus within the industry.
"Then, hopefully with some consensus, we can move forward holistically as an industry, because at the end of the day collaboration and consensus building is important.
"And that's why we're doing this. People can, in a public forum, tell us how we, as an industry, can improve and, if they want, hopefully tell us what we're doing well."
Mr Casselden understands the challenge to satisfy a wide group with competing interests, but he wants to "bring as many people into the tent as possible.
"We won't be able to please everyone all of the time. We are constrained in terms of financial resources, so we've got to be realistic in our decision making," he said.
"But I want our board to be known as consensus builders. I don't want people to say they haven't been consulted, but we also have to be realistic because there will be times when we have to make difficult decisions made in good faith of course that perhaps not everyone's going to like.
"I've come in with fresh eyes and we've got a relatively new and energetic board, and if we are working collaboratively, building consensus, one hopes when we get to those difficult conversations we'll land on the right decision for the industry.
"Some decisions may not be well received, but I hope people can at least acknowledge that we've consulted widely, we have been cautious in our approach, and we're doing what we believe is best for the industry as a whole and our reasons behind that."
GRNSW has continued to make giant steps in the significant areas of welfare and rehoming.
In FY22-23, a total of 2,202 greyhounds were rehomed through GRNSW pathways - a record figure that is already on track to be bettered this year.
The introduction of the Greyhound Care Scheme on July 1, 2023, with the aim of zero unnecessary euthanasia, has also seen a dramatic drop in catastrophic injuries on tracks in FY23-24.
"There have been some very, very big gains and wonderful improvements. There's other areas where work is still in progress, but for me the big gains and improvements are in safety, welfare and reducing catastrophic injuries.
"Safety is the one thing we have to be vigilant on. We always have to be the leader on safety, we've got to stay ahead of the curve on, and we have to put all our effort into making sure that we reduce injuries as much as possible.
"We're working tirelessly to reduce the incident rate and I think we've made some real gains there.
"The sport won't survive if we're not doing absolutely everything within our power and with our resources to make it safe, and I think participants are on board.
"They realise that the sport they love, if it is to have the future we all want it to have, then welfare and the safety of the dogs is paramount.
"It's a very simple concept and I think on the whole it's embraced by participants."
This article was produced as part of an ACM partnership with Greyhound Racing NSW.
