Strengthening skills in our fruitful agriculture industry

Roger Jaensch,Minister for Skills, Training and Workforce Growth

The Tasmanian Liberal Government continues to develop the agricultural workforce to support ongoing growth in the industry.

The Government has worked closely with the sector to identify its needs, with demand for more opportunities to upskill staff and help ensure there are better trained supervisors available to help them through this period.

Proposals are now being sought from training organisations to provide industry-specific training for up to 125 new supervisors which will focus on work health and safety, leading effective teams, coordinating work site activities and quality assurance.

Training will need to be tailored to the fruit, vegetable and wine grape growing sectors to address current and future workforce needs, and we thank the agricultural sector for providing feedback on how our training system can best support them.

Jo Palmer, Primary Industries and Water Minister, said combined, the agriculture sector employed up to 11,000 people in Tasmania, with effective farm leadership a key factor in their ongoing success.

“We are continuing to support jobs and sustainable growth and development in Tasmanian agriculture,” she said.

“This is an important part of our target of increasing the farmgate value of our agricultural sector to $10 billion a year by 2050, and ensuring we meet the current and future needs of the industry.”

Endorsed Registered Training Organisations (ERTO) are eligible to apply and can propose partnering with third-party organisations that are close to, or experienced in, the horticulture, agriculture or viticulture sectors to ensure the training is targeted and fit-for-purpose.

Pending the receipt of suitable proposals, it is expected one ERTO will be selected to run the training program, providing a central agency for employers to deal with to meet the training needs of their supervisory staff.

This is just one more way the Tasmanian Government is supporting our vital agriculture industries and helping to build a more skilled, adaptable and resilient workforce across the state.

Proposals must be received by 2pm on 20 May 2022, with training to be provided between June and September 2022.

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