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This document provides an insight into the many different ways industry now relies on training packages and their remarkable bearing on enterprise productivity, workforce participation and the economy more broadly. Introduced as a concept in 1996, the first training packages were endorsed in 1997. Since that time, packages have been progressively developed with national qualifications and units of competency now covering in excess of 85 per cent of the Australian workforce. The market within which Australian industry now competes is constantly evolving. Powerful new economies are emerging; cycles of change within industry sectors are more frequent and decisive; and there are growing calls for Australia to broaden its economic base and place less reliance on individual sectors. The skills needed to respond to this environment are well captured within industry’s training packages, but as the national standards for workplace performance, they must continue to evolve if they are to identify and anticipate the skill needs of each industry, enterprise and the individual.

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Based on current industry views and evidence from across Australia, this Scan aims to provide a clear understanding of the factors currently shaping and impacting on agrifood workforce development and how training packages and the vocational education and training (VET) system more broadly are responding. A range of topical sources have been drawn upon including industry, enterprise and governmental publications and websites, press releases, current affairs programs such as Landline and Insight, and from on-going visits and conversations with producers and workers throughout the country and across our sectors who continue to experience firsthand the issues needing to be written about. Account has also been taken of comparative international developments. The contents of this Scan include latest intelligence (macro-environment, industry environment and VET environment); workforce development needs; current impact of training packages (formal delivery and unrecognised impact); future directions for agrifood training packages; and continuous improvement of Agrifood Training Packages over the last 12 months. Show less

The aim of this report is to help industry, government policy makers and training providers better understand the drivers of skill needs in the agrifood industry and identify the options for meeting those needs. This report provides the findings of a high level review of the skills and workforce issues confronting the agrifood industry and its five industry sectors: food processing, meat, seafood, racing, and rural and related industries. The key drivers of skills needs for the agrifood industry are: development of the regions; worker attraction and retention; demographic change and employment arrangements; consumer and customer service demands; competitiveness and productivity demands; business compliance; innovation; and globalisation. The relationship between these drivers and skill requirements are analysed and conclusions are developed on how changing drivers may impact on the skills base. Participation, attainment and expenditure trends in vocational and technical education are also discussed. Strategies addressing a broad range of issues driving current and future skills and workforce needs, with a focus on the role of training are recommended. Some of these strategies include: utilising existing industry champions to promote the agrifood industry as a preferred career choice for people in regional and urban areas; the provision of incentives such as higher remuneration, better working conditions and flexible arrangments to encourage older and experienced workers to remain on the job longer; developing skills in international business management; creating partnerships with government, industry and communities to strategically invest in infrastructure development; education of the industry on the challenges and opportunities of globalisation, the importance of research and innovation, and the effecient use of new technology in the global marketplace; developing and distributing tools and resources relating to environment, food safety, occupational health and safety risks and sustainability; adopting a futures approach to the development of training packages to better link research and development to competencies; and providing clear information about career paths and job opportunities that enable informed employment and education choices. Show less

This professional development guide has been developed as a support tool for vocational education trainers and assessors in the agri-food industry who have some understanding of training packages and experience in delivering units of competency. The guide is designed to assist trainers to identify the range of language, literacy and numeracy (LLN) skill needs of learners across a range of Australian Qualifications Framework levels and job outcomes. The contents are: Overview; LLN in VET; Meeting indigenous needs; Contextualising to meet the needs of learners; Essential and employability skills; Bringing the pieces together; Resources and contacts; Glossary of terms. Show less