Collaboration between registered training organisations (RTOs) and employers is a key channel for learners to find employment and employers to find skilled employees.
Employer and RTO relationships are especially important in thin markets where the workforce is located in regional, rural and remote locations with students spread over a broad geographic range, and where the training may require access to expensive materials or machinery. These factors increase the cost to deliver training and are a challenge for many of the industries Skills Insight supports.
Consultation took place throughout this project to explore employer-RTO relationships in the racing and breeding industry and identify the success factors to collaboration and training delivery in thin markets.
Insights from these consultations have been developed into a report, which outlines the factors impacting delivery and uptake of training and identifies six key success factors for RTO-employer partnerships. The contents of the report are a step towards understanding best practice approaches to RTO-employer partnerships, with further work required to pilot and evaluate the six key success factors.
The findings of this report could have broader applications in enhancing workforce outcomes and supporting the commercial viability of training delivery across the racing and breeding industry and many other sectors across Australia.
Next Steps
The research undertaken as part of this project provides a starting point for potential further work to promote RTO-employer partnerships more broadly. Skills Insight is exploring what the next step in this journey could be.
Skills Insight is aware of other organisations doing work to investigate training delivery and uptake challenges in regional, rural and remote Australia and we are actively considering future projects and collaborations in this space. Our contributions will continue to work alongside existing and future structural research to gain insights directly from stakeholders from across the agribusiness, fibre, furnishing, food, animal and environment care industries.
We are keen to connect with stakeholders about the findings and the direction of this work moving forward. Please get in touch with Diana McNaughton at [email protected]
Summary of Consultation
As an example of successful collaboration between employers and trainers, the project team conducted interviews with those involved with the Fast Track Program in the Hunter Valley and the Silverdale Farm Academy in the Southern Highlands, programs which have addressed skills shortages and improved the provision of in-demand accredited training in their areas.
The team also attended site visits at a stud farm in Bunbury WA and hosted online meetings with employers and training providers. Desktop research was also undertaken to support these consultations.
During February and March, the project team conducted round table consultations in Queensland and Western Australia, two states where there is a significant racing and breeding industry, but no delivery of certain qualifications. Workshops were attended by:
At these workshops we discussed existing programs, what barriers there might be to establishing similar programs in other states, and solutions to these barriers. Generally, employers expressed challenges in attracting staff, which was attributed to a lack of recognition of the career opportunities available in the industry. Trainers experienced challenges with the high costs and high risk of delivering training in the industry and the lack of availability of educators and trained supervisors.
Timeline
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