Brad Cam appointed as RDA Orana chair



Brad Cam, RDA Orana Chair, presenting The Hon Mark Coulton MP with the 2020 Invest Orana Guide

RDA Orana’s former Deputy Chair Brad Cam has been appointed as the organisation’s new chair.

Assistant Minister for Regional Development and Territories Nola Marino welcomed Mr Cam’s appointment this week.

“I am pleased to announce the appointment of Brad Cam to 30 June 2025,” she said.

“As the organisation’s new Chair, Mr Cam will lead RDA Orana under a refreshed Charter that focuses their role on driving investment and local procurement opportunities and through this, creating jobs and economic growth for our regions.”

During 2020, Mr Cam served as the organisation’s acting chair after Dubbo businessman John Walkom stepped down from the role.

“As acting Chair, having successfully steered the committee through the challenges of 2020 and, along with the members and staff, Mr Cam provided great support for the region’s business community and future economic development,” Ms Marino said.

“I look forward to working with Mr Cam and the RDA Orana members and staff over the coming years and encourage the community to reach out to their RDA to discuss how it can help business succeed.”

As general manager of Mid-Western Council, Mr Cam is already a key figure in regional development. This role has given him a voice in the Orana region and he is passionate about growing industry, expanding the economy, creating opportunities and helping businesses overcome the obstacles they may face across the Orana.  RDA Orana provides the foundations and assistance required to help nurture these needs. 

“It is important to continue to build relationships with local communities and councils and to further engage in a partnership with the state and national government to achieve a common vision of economic growth in regional areas,” he said.

“My priorities in the next four years are getting our workforce issues sorted for all employers, strengthening the education system in the Orana to support business growth, facilitating new partnerships across the region and leveraging opportunities from major Government initiatives like the NSW Government's Renewable Energy Zone and the Commonwealth Government's Inland Rail Project. 

“I will also aim to support the growth of our member-based sister organisation - the Orana Opportunity Network.”

Under Mr Cam’s leadership last year, RDA Orana received a very high ranking in a national survey conducted by the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Communications, marking its status as a high-achieving region.

“Our region had one of the higher response rates to this national survey on the effectiveness of RDAs with 20% of all of NSW and 6% of all of Australia,” Mr Cam said.

“We were ranked as number one by our respondents as being responsible for regional development ahead of local government and the overall satisfaction with our RDA was 90.9% with an average of 83.6% in NSW and 84.8% in Australia.”