News

Its Annual Report season where we get the chance to reflect on everything that we achieved over the year and FY 2025-2026 was a productive year here at the Independent Brewers Association!

In the 12 months ending June 31st 2026, we saw 38 new members join across our Brewery, Associate and True Indie Supporter memberships. The year was also capped off with the delivery of $30 million dollars into the independent brewing supply chain thanks to the excise remission scheme increasing by $50,000 for every brewery in the country.

“The 25-26 financial year was a big one for the IBA. With several changes occurring towards the end of 2025, we knew that delivering for our members in every way possible had to continue to be a priority. We’re a small team but we have we have continued to be flexible and try new things. We established new initiatives and executed on feedback and new ideas to continue to improve things for our members and the broader indie beer industry.” Say’s Jono Outred, Membership Engagement Officer.

The IBA generated 12 new member resources and established a partnership with the US Brewers Association, where IBA members could access their huge collection of resources.

“The independent beer movement has always been about community. At the IBA we are excited to be exploring more ways that we can work with other international associations that share the same commitment to promoting and protecting independent breweries and be an active part of our global indie community.”Sabrina kunz, IBA CEO, said at the time.

The IBA also launched Project Fair Pay for Victorian brewers, allowing members to confidentially report unpaid venue invoices. This allows the IBA to identify patterns and understand the scale of the issue, informing an action plan. Our Associate Members also provided 12 new member offers, exclusive to IBA Brewery Members, helping to cut costs and explore new products from trade partners.

Funding and government advocacy where also key focus points for the IBA in FY25-26, and with persistence we ensured the voice of independent beer was represented in decisions that directly affect our members, including the boost to the remission scheme, securing funding for the Tasmanian Beer Trail, and 18 separate submissions to state and federal government.

Our advocacy efforts were bolstered by our continued presence across the media, where the IBA was featured in 139 media interviews and articles covering key topics across the industry, ensuring that the issues, challenges and wins of indie beer remained key talking points across the country.

The IBA wouldn’t exist without its members, which is why community has continued to be a steadfast focus for our team. In FY25-26, we bought our industry together with 37 member only events, including in-person MashUp’s, online meetings and informative webinars. The IBA also responded to feedback and changed the way we reach our members with the introduction of Regional Cluster Leads, expanding our team to include 32 volunteers across the country.

The True indie Supporter membership was also launched in FY25-26, allowing even more indie beer supporters into the tent and to show support for the indie beer industry.

We are a small but mighty team and are proud of the achievements over the past year. We thank our volunteer Board, our volunteer Regional Cluster Leads and every one of our members for helping make all of those achievements possible.