A roadmap to attract, retain, upskill and modernise Australia’s agricultural workforce has been released by the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment (DAWE).
Minister for Agriculture, David Littleproud said the roadmap, Australian Government roadmap to attract, retain, upskill and modernise the agricultural workforce, addressed the main themes raised in the National Agricultural Labour Advisory Committee ’s report, National Agricultural Workforce Strategy: Learning to excel, which was submitted to Government in December.
“The roadmap outlines the Government’s vision for the sector and broadly outlines the next steps for taking the roadmap themes forward,” Mr Littleproud said.
“It also sets out the actions the Government has taken over the past 12 months to address the immediate workforce needs of our agricultural sector as a result of the impacts of COVID-19.
“The Strategy Report examined issues from education and industrial relations to technological innovation and supply chains,” he said.
Mr Littleproud said many of the Strategy Report’s 37 recommendations required collaboration with different levels of Government, co-design with industry and delivery in partnership with a wide range of stakeholders.
He said targeted consultation would be undertaken with industry as well as State and Territory Governments to ensure that all parties were committed to a highly skilled agricultural workforce.
He said the Government would respond to the Committee’s Strategy Report in the coming months.
The Department’s nine-page roadmap can be accessed at this PS News link and the Committee’s 297-page Strategy Report at this link.
