Andi Lucas dressed in cap and gown standing at a University of Tasmania Podium delivering the graduates address.

In 2013, Andi Lucas had the kind of year you wouldn’t wish on your worst enemy.

It was a sequence of events that would have broken most people, but it set Andi on a course that led to a whole new calling — one driven by climate crisis, empowering other women, and housing security.

"I started hearing about hempcrete buildings, and looking into environmental building products and carbon sequestration. Hemp does so many things that are great, you almost can’t believe it.”

Andi Lucas

Founder & Managing Director, X-Hemp

Tasmanian Andi Lucas discovered industrial hemp after a year of personal tragedy prompted her to search for a career which would allow her to make a difference.

She is now heavily involved in the Australian industrial hemp industry, which has been tipped to reach $10 million in annual gross value production by 2026.

She is the owner and operator of X-Hemp – a business converting industrial hemp crop waste into saleable products – and is currently President of the Tasmanian Hemp Association, which has been contracted by AgriFutures Australia and the Tasmanian Government to run industrial hemp variety trials in Tasmania.