Minister for Skills and Training, the Hon Brendan O'Connor MP
Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Senator the Hon Murray Watt
The Albanese Government's first Jobs and Skills Council (JSC) is now up and running, which will help the agribusiness sector get the skilled workers they need.
It's important that sectors are planning for the future, and the Agribusiness JSC, called Skills Insight, has been established as a tripartite body and will continue to be inclusive of the full range of industry views and pursue solutions to skills and workforce challenges currently facing Australian agribusiness.
The industry-led and owned organisation will identify skills and workforce needs, map career pathways across education sectors and develop VET training products.
It will also support collaboration between industry and training providers to improve training and assessment practice, and act as a source of intelligence on issues affecting agribusiness.
Skills Insight will not only be responsible for primary producers, but textiles, clothing and footwear, forestry, timber and furnishing as well, working closely with Jobs and Skills Australia to gain a better understanding of the skills landscape.
This is especially important as businesses in parts of rural and regional Australia cry out for skilled workers in sectors such as cropping, livestock, aquaculture and forestry, along with national shortages of agricultural and forestry scientists and agricultural technicians.
As a first order priority, Skills Insight will develop an initial workforce plan for their industry sectors. This will set a critical path for prioritising and diagnosing workforce challenges as the JSC beds down their operations in the first year.
A further nine JSCs are in the process of being established and are due to be operational by mid-2023.
