Jobs and Skills Australia’s (JSA) new report, An Essential Ingredient: The Food Supply Chain Workforce,examines food production, manufacturing and distribution, highlighting key challenges and opportunities that can be addressed through the national skills system. The report presents actionable recommendations across eight key themes to build resilience and ensure the sector’s long-term sustainability.
Skills Insight CEO Michael Hartman was part of the project steering group and Skills Insight was pleased to work with JSA throughout the project. Work is already underway by Skills Insight to address some of the 41 recommendations outlined, including projects to explore a potential apprenticeship in agriculture, address veterinary nursing skills needs and explore training demand and supply challenges.
Following the release of the report in January, Australia’s first Regional Education Commissioner, the Honourable Fiona Nash, commented:
When we train people in the regions, they’re far more likely to go on and work in the regions, so the stronger our educations systems are actually on the ground in the regions the more we can train people in the regions and the more we can grow that regional workforce.
Michael Hartman said:
The report shows that when education and training does occur in rural and regional Australia the outcomes are outstanding… so training and workforce development is something definitely worth investing in and this report gives some key pointers to what that investment needs to look like.