National Agricultural Workforce Strategy: discussion paper

The Australian government is developing a National Agriculture Workforce Strategy to address the agricultural industry's need to build a skilled workforce that equips us for the future. It will explore potential opportunities in school education in vocational education and training in higher education by providing employees with competitive employment conditions. This national strategy will position Australia's agriculture industry in a way that attracts and develops the skilled future workforce it requires. Our agricultural industry needs to attract a workforce that accommodates rapid technological advancements, changing product markets and trade opportunities, new work methods demographic and other social and economic changes. The development of the strategy will be guided by an expert panel - the National Agriculture Labour Advisory Committee.

This discussion paper was released in February 2020 to seek input on: the availability of workers, including barriers and impediments; the effect of changes to the industry, agribusinesses and broader society on the agricultural workforce; the skills and knowledge of workers and business owners needed to maintain and grow productivity, including in human resource management, agricultural technology (AgTech) and artificial intelligence (AI); and opportunities, best practices, case studies, and priority areas for action. Submissions and responses to the online survey on the discussion paper questions were accepted between 27 February and 3 August 2020.

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