Biosecurity is integral to protecting Australia’s unique ecosystems and ensuring the sustainability and competitiveness of all its agricultural exports. The recent avian influenza outbreak has highlighted the importance of skills to care for individual flocks in protecting the biosecurity of the larger poultry industry.
Click across the tabs to view active and completed project stages. Consultation takes place at every stage of the project.
In its 2022-2027 Chicken Meat Program Research Development and Extension Plan, AgriFutures identifies ‘enhancing biosecurity, health and welfare’ as one of the key priorities of the poultry industry.
In response to this and other calls from industry for improved skills in prevention of biosecurity incursions, Skills Insight and MINTRAC are undertaking this project to deliver free workshops for chicken meat and egg producers around the country and online. Workshops will focus on the role of on-farm flock safety measures in safeguarding the biosecurity of the broader industry.
Participants will come together to create or review their on-farm Biosecurity Management Plans. This gives industry in each region the opportunity to collaborate and share best practice, uplifting the biosecurity of the entire industry. Content for the workshops will draw on already existing resources.
Insights gained from this project will be used to inform further work by Skills Insight in supporting biosecurity skills across the industries we serve.
We recognise the threat that a biosecurity and emergency animal disease incursion would have on the poultry industry and fully support all initiatives to uplift preparedness, awareness, and responsiveness to biosecurity risks within the sector. We believe this project represents a valuable opportunity to deliver education, knowledge, and skills training to influence industry practice change in biosecurity management and planning.
– Dr Mary Wu, Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Chicken Meat Federation (ACMF)
Project Goals
The project aims to:
Next steps
An industry advisory group (IAG) made up of industry experts is being convened to guide the project. Terms of Reference for the committee are being developed, along with a consultation strategy to encourage thorough and appropriate stakeholder participation in the project.
The project team will be undertaking initial research and consultation to identify any specific workforce training needs and capability gaps.
A lesson plan, key learning objectives, competency assessments and activities will be developed in the form of a training workshop. A facilitators resource and learners’ workbook will be developed to facilitate the course.
Check-ins at three, six and nine months following the workshops will play a key role in monitoring and evaluating the program’s success.
At the end of the project, outcomes from the workshops and check-ins will be reported to the Department of Employment and Workforce Relations.
Project Team
Mick Crouch
Project Lead
MINTRAC
[email protected]
Tugrul Durali
Project Technical Consultant
Avian Management
This Skills Insight JSC project is being managed with the support of MINTRAC as part of their collaborative partnership with Skills Insight. MINTRAC has a strong history working with the Australian meat processing industry on skills and training solutions and have been engaged by Skills Insight to deliver this project in partnership.
This stage has not yet commenced.
At the broad consultation stage, we present and discuss potential solutions, collecting feedback from a wide range of stakeholder across the country. It follows consultation with various stakeholders that has already taken place throughout the project.
This stage has not yet commenced.
As part of consensus gathering, we check our work with stakeholders to confirm that solutions are in line with expectations.
This stage has not yet commenced.
At the finalisation stage, final checks are conducted and the outcomes of the project are submitted to the Department for consideration. Following this, outcomes are published or enacted.