queensland agriculture workforce network · 2017-11-24 · queensland agriculture workforce network...

Queensland Agriculture Workforce NetworkFebruary 2016 - October 2017 ReportSince this industry led rural jobs and skills network was launched in February 2016 the officers have established extensive connections with industry, employment and training service providers, and government. Through a collaborative approach the network is helping Queensland’s agribusinesses to become better connected, informed, supported and positioned to maximise their potential.

WHO ARE WE?The Queensland Agriculture Workforce Network (QAWN) consists of 7 officers who are located in key regional locations across Queensland. The project is funded by the Queensland Government through the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries (Feb 2016 - June 2018).

South Burnett Stephanie Denman

[email protected]

07 4182 1825

Far North QueenslandLeanne Kruss

[email protected] 0431 743 633

North QueenslandJulia Wheway

[email protected]

0427 009 929

Central QueenslandLorelle Stables

[email protected]

0423 370 368

Wide Bay Burnett Kylie Jackson


South East QueenslandMichelle Templin


Southern QueenslandKaren George


Delivering Outcomes February 2016 - October 2017 Report

2

WHAT WE DOThe success of the network comes down to connecting with people. The officers engage with a range of stakeholders across Queensland to deliver practical, responsive workforce development services for the agriculture industry. This includes:

• the provision of training and employment advice and support

• improving connections between industry, jobseekers and service providers

• facilitating training and employment opportunities

• collecting and providing feedback to service providers to drive improved offerings

• working with the Rural Jobs and Skills Alliance to provide industry intelligence that will help shape government policy and investment to better meet industry’s workforce needs both now and in the future.


3

DELIVERING OUTCOMES

4050+

200+

Number of contacts with farm business employees, including business owners

Number of articles published, radio and television interviews

5030+

1005+

1500+

Number of contacts with potential employees

Positive employment and training outcomes influenced

Number of facebook posts

4700+

515+

Number of contacts with key stakeholders, including service providers

Number of tweets

CONTACTS

RAISING AWARENESS

INCREASING CAPACITY

MEDIA EXPOSURE

By increasing connections and media exposure the officers have established themselves as the go-to people for information about agriculture employment and training.

The officers are helping to address skills and labour needs by linking agribusinesses with appropriate government and private sector services and programs.


4

NATIONAL

STATE

REGIONAL

IMPROVING FEEBACK

With their on-the ground contacts and knowledge of regional agriculture employment and training issues, the officers are regularly asked to provide industry feedback on a wide range of agriculture employment and training initiatives, including but not limited to:

• Seasonal Worker Programme (SWP) – Federal Departments of Employment and Foreign Affairs and Trade

• Youth Jobs PaTH and Seasonal Worker Incentive Trial (SWIT) - Federal Department of Employment

• Sustainable solutions for labour supply in the Australian vegetable industry – University of Adelaide / Horticulture Innovation Australia

• Local Jobs First Agriculture Employment Roundtable – Queensland Department of Employment

• Back to Work Regional Employment Package – Queensland Treasury• AHC training – TAFE Queensland • Apprenticeships and trainees - Jobs Queensland • Labour Hire Licensing Scheme - Queensland Office of Industrial Relations • SVETE programs (School+VET leads to Employment) – Queensland

Department of Employment and Training• 10 Year Roadmap for Agriculture and Food Research, Development and

Extension – Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries

• Opportunities for employment in agriculture - NDIS SW Queensland Workability Workforce Network

• School to Work Transition Programs - DET Darling Downs South West • Labour impacts and workforce issues - Whitsunday Regional Council Disaster

Recovery Economic Development Sub-committee

February 2016 - October 2017 ReportDelivering Outcomes

5

STATEWIDE COLLABORATIVE INITIATIVES

2017 / 2018 WORKPLACE ESSENTIALS WORKSHOPS

Coordinated by Growcom and funded by the Queensland Government, the 2017 / 2018 Workplace Essentials Workshops aim to build on the success of the previous series and are being delivered in 17 key agribusiness regions across the state.

The workshops are focused on improving workplace health and safety and supervisory skills, and are targeted at frontline staff from all agriculture sectors. Topics covered include the latest workplace health and safety and industrial relations regulations, job safety assessments, incident reporting, supervisor responsibilities, performance management, and managing bullying and conflict constructively.

To increase awareness and participation QAWN is partnering with numerous stakeholders including Rural Jobs and Skills Alliance members (QFF, Growcom, Cotton Australia, Canegrowers, Queensland Poultry, TABMA and Agforce), as well as Workplace Health and Safety Queensland, AustSafe Super, councils, commodity industry development officers and Regional Development Australia. This cross sector collaboration is already reaping significant benefits, with participants from a wide range of agriculture sectors attending and participant numbers up by 85% compared with the previous series.

FARM BUSINESS MANAGEMENT TRAINING To boost the resilience, success and long-term sustainability of Queensland’s agriculture industry QAWN is collaborating with the Queensland Agriculture Training Colleges (QATC) to roll out state-wide Farm Business Management training in key regional areas, using state government funding from the Higher Level Skills Fund to subsidise the training for eligible participants.

The training aims to assist farm owner and managers who are just starting out, or wanting to take their business to the next level, by strengthening their business management skills. The Farm Business Management Skill Set involves the completion of four agribusiness units and covers business planning, budgeting, risk management and succession planning. These skills are fundamental for farm businesses especially when planning for business growth or recovering from natural disasters, since a key eligibility requirement for a loan or grant is often to provide “an adequate management plan” or be able to demonstrate “sound prospects for commercial viability”.

QAWN has also achieved a positive outcome through its collaboration with RJSA on a successful business case to change the Higher Level Skills eligibility criteria for the Farm Business Management Skill Set. As a result of the changes farm owners, managers and employees who may have already completed a Certificate 4 or higher can now potentially access the subsidy. Previously, if they held a Certificate 4 or higher qualification they would not have been eligible.

“The course has given me the confidence to set objectives and goals, analyse strengths, weaknesses and opportunities for our farm business and given me motivation to make action plans for our short term and long term future, identifying risks and putting management plans in place. The knowledge I have gained from attending this course has been invaluable.”

Louise Bowman Participant

417

TESTIMONIAL

2720 26

99% 99%

Participants who have benefited since 2016

Number of people who have completed training to date

Number of workshops held since 2016

Number of people who have registered their interest in forthcoming FMB training

Percentage of participants who rated the new series

of workshops good to excellent

Percentage of participants who said the new series of workshops helped to identify gaps in current

practices


6

KEY REGIONAL INITIATIVESSOUTHERN QLDKAREN GEORGE• Actively promoted the opportunity for the agriculture

industry to employ people with disabilities. This included the promotion of a successful case study involving Withcott Seedlings, which has partnered with the Endeavour Foundation on a long-term employment program for people with a disability. The nomination of Withcott Seedlings for the Darling Downs Business disAbility awards led to them being selected as finalists. A key focus was also on creating links with and between jobactives, the Lockyer Valley Grower Group, disability support agencies and care agencies, with the aim of encouraging increased employment of people with disabilities within agriculture. Obtained extensive media reach through television, radio, newspaper and social media coverage. Also collaborated with the National Disability Coordination Network, various disability employment support agencies and other stakeholders to initiate the development of an autistic employment program with D.A. Hall & Co, one of the leading poultry farmers and egg producers in Australia.

• Collaborated with AgForce’s School to Industry Partnership Program (SIPP) officers to provide Ag Inspirations programs for 56 students from 10 different high school schools in Chinchilla, Dalby, Southern Downs and Lockyer Valley. As well as inspiring senior school students to enter a career in agriculture, Ag Inspirations provides links to employers and pathways to employment. Agriculture is integral to the region’s economy and events such as these are crucial to attracting youth to stay and work in the industry. QAWN worked in partnership with AgForce to secure the participation of 35 businesses across all four events. The majority of employers offered opportunities for future work experience placements and encouraged students to apply for jobs, including casual, part time and full time. To date one student has taken on a part-time job with one of the participating employers.

SOUTH EAST QUEENSLANDMICHELLE TEMPLIN • Improving industry awareness about available

employment and training options, and creating valuable links between service providers and farm employers through various field days, meetings and events. This included organising representatives from Workplace Health and Safety Queensland, Sarina Russo jobactive and AgriVeterans to present at the annual Queensland Strawberry Industry Field Day, which attracted over 100 participants. Also delivered a presentation promoting QAWN’s services and opportunities through the Seasonal Worker Programme (SWP), Youth Jobs PaTH program, Back to Work Regional Employment Package, the Sweetest Job Skilling Queenslanders for Work project and others. As a direct result, there were a number of follow up queries from strawberry employers who were interested in AgriVeterans, Back to Work Youth Boost, the SWP and forklift training.

• Engaged in various activities aimed at improving the SWP process and industry uptake. This included numerous meetings with representatives from the Federal Department of Employment (DoE) and Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), and participation in the 2017 Labour Mobility Assistance Program (LMAP) Reference Group Meeting in Melbourne, which included representatives from SWP participant countries, DoE, DFAT, industry groups, community organisations and approved employers. Subsequently invited to become a member of an Industry Advisory Group that DoE is establishing to review and provide feedback on proposed improvements. Met with the Prime Minister of the Solomon Islands and a number of his ministers to discuss Queensland farmers’ workforce needs, desired improvements to the SWP and potential strategies to increase farmer awareness and engagement of workers through the programme.

SOUTH BURNETTSTEPHANIE DENMAN • Worked in partnership with the Queensland Rural

Regional and Remote Women’s Network (QRRRWN) and the University of Southern Queensland (USQ) to facilitate the delivery of the Women in Regional Enterprise (WiRE) bootcamp in the South Burnett. The two-day entrepreneurship capacity building program was funded under the Queensland Government’s Advancing Women in Business (AWB) initiative, together with the Australian Government through the Department of Industry, Innovation and Science. It provided attendees with tools and support to explore and test ideas to start or grow their business.

• Worked one-on-one with cattle and fodder producers to examine labour and skills needs and how this will change in the coming years. Assisted farm employers to develop position descriptions and raised awareness about the variety of pathways to source employees.

WIDE BAY BURNETTKYLIE JACKSON• Provided information on employment initiatives,

incentives and funding to 84 agricultural businesses through presentations, workshops and direct contact. Subsequently approached by a Bundaberg Macadamia nursery and ISIS Canegrowers to provide tailored recruitment support. This included the provision of advice on jobseeker eligibility for government wage subsidies, Back to Work funding, the Seasonal Work Incentive Trial (SWIT) and Youth PaTH Internship. Both resulted in successful employment outcomes. In addition, referred an unemployed youth to a horticulture producer, which led to the employer offering the jobseeker a full-time traineeship to complete a Certificate 3 in Production Horticulture.

• Continued to explore opportunities to increase the number of available training providers servicing the agriculture industry in the region. Met with three registered training providers (RTOs) that are keen to extend their offerings to the agriculture industry.


7

Discussed agriculture’s skill needs within the region and the potential for the RTOs to design and deliver tailored training to better meet those needs. Referred a number of regional producers to recommended training providers for forklift training and chemical accreditation.

CENTRAL QUEENSLANDLORELLE STABLES • Collaborating with a range of stakeholders, including

Jobs Queensland, jobactive providers, DoE, DET, RTOs, Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries (QDAF) and SWP to find a solution to the revived sheep industry’s shortage of sheep shearers in Western Central Queensland. The key issues are the lack of available training and skilled labour in the region. Helped create valuable links between the Remote Area Planning and Development Board (RAPAD) and Longreach Pastoral College to address the training gap. This resulted in the college’s decision to offer shearing courses and to work with Australian Wool Innovation (AWI) on a two-day event for current industry practitioners and a one day event for students, with lead shearers from Australia and New Zealand as presenters. Discussions are also occurring with DoE regarding the potential for sheep farmers to employ Syrian refugees under the Friendly Nation Initiative, with the aim of linking business needs with the skills of the refugees.

• Working with CANEGROWERS Mackay to support cane farmers wishing to diversify their farming business to include rice, soy, mung beans; etc. as a break/secondary crop. This partnership approach has been instrumental in helping to identify best management practices and skill gaps. A training plan was developed and assistance provided to apply for an Industry Skills Fund subsidy to deliver the training to 300 farmers over two years. When the funding was cancelled in December 2016, QAWN worked with QDAF to secure additional funding to keep the program going until such time that new funding could be found. To date, 38 people have received the training. Alternative funding options are still being investigated. Diversification will mean the creation of new jobs related to planting and harvesting a new crop, and year-round employment for those who are currently working in seasonal positions on cane farms.

NORTH QUEENSLAND JULIA WHEWAY • Acted as the main driver behind Employment

Information Forums held in Proserpine and Bowen to aid the recovery of businesses and individuals following tropical cyclone Debbie, which devastated the region in March 2017. As a result of the cyclone there were large numbers of motivated and skilled workers in the Whitsundays region who were displaced from their normal place of work. The forums provided an opportunity to connect local jobseekers with employers from the region’s main industry sectors of agriculture, tourism and construction, and highlighted the employment and training initiatives that could assist businesses to employ staff and plan for business growth. Through informative presentations from QAWN, DoE, DET and the Fair Work Ombudsman,

businesses were encouraged to review the significant funding available to employ and train Australian workers. The one-stop-shop approach was designed to make the process as easy as possible for everyone and included a dedicated Facebook page to promote the event, post job vacancies and provide up to date employment information. In addition, a resource containing information about the relevant agencies, organisations and employment initiatives was developed and distributed to help the local community to access support.

• Took the lead in establishing a new regional employment initiative called Whitsundays Employment Action Network (WEAN), which was created as a direct outcome of the Whitsundays Jobs forums and not only benefits the region’s agriculture sector but also connects all of the other industries in the Whitsunday region. WEAN is a collaboration between employment service providers, and Federal and State government departments with an interest in employment and training in the Whitsunday, Bowen and Collinsville areas. The purpose of WEAN is to engage with employers to better understand their employment and training needs and to work together to share information and implement local solutions. One of the positive outcomes of the WEAN meetings was the development of a farm tour that included representatives from jobactives, group training organisations, and the Federal DoE. The farm tour was timed to coincide with the Seasonal Work Incentives Trial (SWIT) information session in Bowen, which enabled the SWIT team from Canberra to meet face-to-face with growers to discuss SWIT and see first-hand the type of work participants would be involved in.

FAR NORTH QUEEENLANDLEANNE KRUSS • Collaborated with a number of stakeholders including

Mareeba District Fruit and Vegetable Growers, Northern Gulf Resources Management Group and Growcom’s Innovation Coach to deliver the Feed your Future careers event at the FNQ Rotary Field Day. This successful event attracted 170 students and 14 teachers from 7 different high schools and provided a platform to showcase agriculture innovation, research and careers in agriculture. The two-day event included presentations, demonstrations of agriculture gadgets and interactive small group sessions with a variety of guests working within the agriculture supply chain, including scientists, banks, media, industry groups and farm businesses. Students were provided with a booklet that included career and training questions that required them to interact with presenters to obtain the answers.

• Assisting a production horticulture business that will require 400 – 800 workers over the next few years. The company is currently in the process of doing a full audit of their labour needs now and in the future. Helping them to develop a workforce plan that takes into consideration the various labour supply options available for their full time, part time and casual workforce, including workers through the SWP, school and post school–based apprenticeships and traineeships, migrants, university interns etc. Also identifying key actions to address current and future workforce skills gaps. Since the project began 5 full-time positions have been filled, 2 employees have been transitioned to traineeships and 1 apprenticeship


8

queensland agriculture workforce network · 2017-11-24 · queensland agriculture workforce network...

Documents