A new statewide campaign will highlight the everyday role timber plays in South Australian homes, workplaces, and supply chains, as the South Australian Forest Products Association (SAFPA) and the state government work to raise public awareness of the sector’s economic and environmental importance.
Launched this week and supported by Minister for Forest Industries Clare Scriven, the Timber Promotion Campaign aims to shift the conversation about timber away from technical industry language and toward the material’s visibility in daily life — from house frames and cabinetry to office furniture, packaging and logistics.
And according to Nathan Paine, CEO of the SAFPA, the campaign is designed to help South Australians recognise how deeply timber is embedded in the state’s built environment and economy. “Timber is all around us – in our homes, our offices, our schools and the places we gather,” Paine said.
“It forms the structural frames of our houses, the cupboards in our kitchens, the flooring in our living rooms and the wall linings that shape our spaces. In workplaces, it’s found in desks, shelving and fit-outs, and behind the scenes, it is pallets and packaging that keep goods moving through our economy every single day.”
Paine said the campaign deliberately focuses on relatable, everyday examples rather than industry jargon, positioning timber as a familiar and trusted material that is “renewable, stores carbon and supports thousands of regional jobs.”
Wood Central understands that the campaign will roll out through digital storytelling, pop‑up showcases, professional education sessions and community engagement activities, each designed to demonstrate how timber is used across residential construction, commercial fit‑outs and supply‑chain infrastructure.
Key themes include:
- Timber’s presence in homes — from frames and floors to cabinetry and wall linings
- Its growing use in workplaces and public buildings, including mass‑timber construction
- Its role in logistics, pallets and packaging
- and finally, its contribution to regional jobs, sustainability and the circular economy
“The strength of timber is that it is both visible and invisible,” Paine said. “We see it in our homes and workplaces, yet we rarely stop to consider how essential it is to daily life and economic activity,” Paine said, adding that the new campaign will reinforce the state’s long history in plantation forestry and the importance of maintaining domestic manufacturing capability.
“This is about pride in what we grow, what we make and what we build here in South Australia,” Paine said. “Maintaining the ability to grow and manufacture our own timber products underpins our capacity to build homes, support economic growth and sustain our way of life.”
