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On 17 March 2005, the Standing Committee on Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry was asked by the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Hon Warren Truss MP, to inquire into rural skills training and research. The terms of reference for this inquiry were to inquire into: the availability and adequacy of education and research services in the agriculture sector, including access to vocational training and pathways from vocational education and training to tertiary education and work; the skills needs of agricultural industries in Australia, including the expertise and capacity of industries to specify the skills-sets required for training, and the extent to which vocational training meets the needs of rural industries; the provision of extension and advisory services to agricultural industries, including links and coordination between education, research and extension; and the role of the Australian government in supporting education, research and advisory programs to support the viability and sustainability of Australian agriculture. In February 2007, the Committee presented its results from the review and found that severe skills shortages exist in rural industries and there are significant gaps in the capacity to respond to those shortages. The Committee made 29 recommendations for the government to consider and they included: the development of a national strategy on rural skills training, encompassing the school, vocational education and training (VET), and higher education sectors; making the regulatory framework surrounding VET more flexible and responsive to industry needs; rationalising training providers and reinvigorating vocational education and higher education in agriculture and forestry; revitalising agricultural colleges across Australia; providing agriculture and forestry courses at Australian Technical Colleges; developing a national extension framework to revitalise extension services; linking research funding to the provision of extension services; providing a greater security of funding for rural industry related Cooperative Research Centres; and developing a 'skills passport' to encourage the transfer of skills within and between rural industries.