The report, which was released this week, said many of the issues raised in submissions to the review and others such as centralisation of selling could be addressed with the development of an online portal. 

The portal would cater for new selling and buying options, enable growers to compare available selling options and provide a more efficient exchange of information, the report said.

The proposals for the online portal, and for a merger of the Australian Wool Testing Authority (AWTA) and Australian Wool Exchange (AWEX), had been flagged during the consultation process by the review that aims to reduce the costs of selling wool.

The report was commissioned by the board of Australian Wool Innovation (AWI) and it said the recommendations would be discussed as part of its ongoing consultation with shareholders.

The report estimated the total direct cost of the selling system for Australia’s $2.5 billion wool clip in 2014-2015 was nearly $300 million. The average cost was estimated to be about $0.82/kg greasy or $144.64 per bale, representing just under 12 per cent of the wool’s value.

Among the other significant recommendations and findings of the 68-page report, now available on wool.com/wssr are:

- greater transparency of all selling costs

- the potential for a tax-equivalent research and development investment to be made by AWTA given its current tax-free status

- potential problems with the current commission buying arrangements in the auction system,

- a differentiated approach not necessarily requiring sample display of all wool and making greater use of sale by description.