Secondary Research

Status:	Draft
Source file:	01 Scoping/07-secondary-research-plan.md; 02 Secondary Research/phase-2-summary-report.md
Sensitivity review:	Completed
Purpose:	Orient readers to the Phase 2 secondary research material and show how the published evidence pages fit together.

Phase 2 builds the evidence base before primary research, strategic analysis or final business case drafting. It tests published and publicly available evidence on industrial hemp regulation, markets, supply chains, producer economics, regional suitability and environmental outcomes.

The current Phase 2 position is that broad desktop research has been synthesised and is reaching diminishing returns. The recommended next step is targeted gap closure and Phase 3 primary research planning, subject to approval.

Research Navigation

Group	Page	Use it for
Foundations	Regulatory and Definitional Scan	Legal definitions, licensing, food standards and chemical-use pathways.
Foundations	Initial Literature Review	Published research themes and evidence limitations.
Foundations	Regional Data Source Scan	Regional datasets for climate, land-use, soil and economic baselines.
Markets and Economics	Market Demand and Product Categories	Product categories, lawful pathways and early market evidence.
Markets and Economics	Senate Inquiry Submissions	Public submission leads, repeated barriers, sentiment and lived-experience themes.
Markets and Economics	Economic Confidence Review	Secondary-only economic confidence test asking whether targeted primary validation is justified.
Markets and Economics	International Industry Context	Australian industry scale, trade signals, overseas comparison and transferability limits.
Markets and Economics	Producer Economics	Farm-level costs, yields, gross-margin scaffolds, compliance and freight questions.
Markets and Economics	Product Pathway Economic Rough Guide	Pathway-specific figures needed for later Granite Borders economic scenarios.
Regional Suitability and Environment	Regional Suitability	Agronomic suitability for current Tenterfield Shire and historic Stanthorpe Shire conditions.
Regional Suitability and Environment	Supply Chain	Processor access, capacity, specifications, logistics and beyond-farm-gate viability.
Regional Suitability and Environment	Environmental Evidence	Environmental claims tested against realistic local alternatives.
Evidence Management	Source Register	Reader-facing source list for published Source IDs.
Evidence Management	Phase 2 Control Log	Follow-up items completed, open controls and evidence-management status.
Gaps and Risks	Phase 2 Gaps and Risks	Evidence gaps, decision risks and controls for targeted Phase 3 planning.
Final Synthesis	Phase 2 Summary Report	Current synthesis, evidence maturity, key gaps and recommended next steps.

Research Sequence

Step	Focus	Current role
1	Regulatory and definitional scan	Regulatory and Definitional Scan establishes what legal industrial hemp means in NSW, Queensland and Australian food or chemical-use settings.
2	Product-category mapping	Market Demand and Product Categories keeps seed, food, oil, fibre, hurd, bedding, building-material and excluded cannabinoid pathways separate.
3	Market and trade evidence	Senate Inquiry Submissions, Economic Confidence Review and International Industry Context distinguish verified demand and trade signals from forecasts or promotional claims.
4	Production and agronomic evidence	Initial Literature Review, Regional Data Source Scan, Producer Economics, Product Pathway Economic Rough Guide and Regional Suitability identify likely costs, yields, inputs, constraints and local suitability questions.
5	Supply-chain and processing evidence	Supply Chain tests processor access, capacity, specifications, logistics and beyond-farm-gate viability.
6	Environmental evidence and comparators	Environmental Evidence compares hemp claims against realistic regional alternatives, not against an abstract baseline.
7	Evidence management	Source Register and Phase 2 Control Log record source traceability, follow-up controls and evidence-management status.
8	Gaps and risks	Phase 2 Gaps and Risks separates the unresolved evidence gaps and risks that should shape targeted Phase 3 planning.
9	Final Phase 2 synthesis	Phase 2 Summary Report records current synthesis, evidence maturity, key gaps and recommended next steps.

Evidence Handling Rules

Rule	Why it matters
Record product category	Industrial hemp is not one market or one production system.
Record geography	Tenterfield, historic Stanthorpe, broader Southern Downs, state, national and international evidence have different relevance.
Classify by perspective	Findings may affect producers, supply chains, GBLC and environmental outcomes differently.
Prioritise credible evidence	Government data, measured research and transaction evidence are stronger than advocacy or promotional claims.
Treat industry claims as leads	Processor, buyer and association claims need verification before they support conclusions.
Identify confidence	Findings should be labelled High, Medium, Low or Unknown where possible.

Source Categories Used

Source category	Main use	Key limitation
Government sources	Regulation, statistics, policy, trade, land use and regional context.	May be broad or not hemp-specific.
Academic and university research	Agronomy, environmental outcomes, lifecycle evidence and technical studies.	Transferability to Granite Borders conditions may be limited.
Industry sources	Product pathways, buyer leads, processing context and market signals.	Potential advocacy bias and commercial confidentiality.
Trade and market data	Import/export signals, product categories and market context.	Trade codes may not isolate hemp-specific products.
International sources	Mature industry comparison and evidence leads.	Different climate, scale, regulation and market structures.

Current Interpretation

Phase 2 has improved the evidence base, but it has not produced final business-case conclusions. The strongest current value of the secondary research is to narrow the unresolved questions that need targeted follow-up or primary research.

The main unresolved questions remain buyer demand, processor access, product specifications, freight-adjusted returns, grower economics, local agronomic suitability, environmental comparison against realistic alternatives and GBLC strategic fit.