Arthur Blewitt CEO

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AFISC National Conference Building a sustainable
future

• Arthur BlewittCEO
• Agri-Food Industry Skills Council

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AFISC Strategic Intent

• Improving Agri-Food industry performance through
  innovative skills and workforce development

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Roles for ISCs

• Role 1 Develop and maintain extensive and
  inclusive client and stakeholder networks to
  capture market intelligence on industry skills
  and workforce trends and drivers.
• Role 2 Facilitate the development,
  implementation and continuous improvement of
  quality, nationally recognised training products
  and services to meet current and future skill
  development and industry needs.

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Where ISCs add value

• We maintain and support networks, build
  relationships, manage and transfer knowledge both
  within industry and the formal VET structures
• We track high level trends in developing our
  strategic directions and business priorities for
  training and skills development within our
  industry sectors
• We analyse and test trends and innovations within
  our networks and across ISCs more broadly
• We work to ensure our industries have ownership
  of the products used by the national VET system
  and that cross-industry commonalities and
  synergies are shared

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AFISC Strategic context

• Meeting demands of a competitive global economy
  skilled, flexible and capable workforce
• People and skills shortages a barrier to
  economic growth and business performance
• Chronic people and skills shortages across
  agri-food and particularly in rural, regional and
  remote Australia.
• Demand for higher level skills and underpinning
  knowledge, retraining and upskilling
• Economic and social impact on enterprises,
  communities and national wellbeing

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Agri-Food Industry Skills CouncilStrategies

• Working with industry and government to find
  short and long-term solutions to skills and
  workforce shortages
• Enhancing employability and participation
• Delivering quality and accessible training
  products, service and programs
• Working with industry to address image, job
  design and rewards, and investment in people and
  business skills
• Adopt continuous improvement and streamlined
  processes to deliver responsive, understandable
  and relevant skilling
• A focus on regional and community development

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Key Objectives

• Strengthening industry leadership of VET
• Sustaining and growing agri-food businesses in a
  global marketplace
• Consultation and engagement with industry, small
  and large enterprises, governments and RTOs
• Capturing intelligence on key industry skills and
  workforce drivers, and finding innovative and
  sustainable solutions
• Consultation, communication and feedback our
  lifeblood

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Key Objectives

• Building industry advisory arrangements Board,
  standing committees, Training Package steering
  committees, reference groups, industry champions
• Stakeholder interaction and management strategy
• Meeting DEST, COAG and NQC needs
• Capturing data and research to guide strategies
• Communication and media
• Influencing policy, innovation and urgency

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Attraction and retention Influences on the
agri-food industry


RegionalDevelopment
Skills and Training



PEOPLE

Business Compliance
Business Management
Industry Image and Conditions
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Competing for capable people

• Major skills and workforce shortages in regional,
  rural and remote Australia
• Key shortages in higher level skills in food
  processing
• Competition within agri-food, with mining, and
  with metropolitan and urban Australia for a share
  of a stretched workforce.
• Growth projections for Agribusiness of 10,000
  additional workers per annum over the next five
  years, plus replacements
• Agribusiness is important to export earnings and
  national economic growth

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Agri-food workforce development

• Issues are complex and adversely affect
• enterprises ability to attract and retain
• skilled people
• Poor knowledge of sustainable work and lifestyle
  opportunities in agri-food industries and regions
• Availability of support infrastructure, family
  and community services
• Access to quality relevant learning/education
  programs
• Unless addressed, above issues create a cycle
  that inhibits business and community development

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SKILL ECOSYSTEMS A new framework for VET

• Skill solutions integrated with broader business
  systems and decisions
• Shaping the linkage between work and skills
• People place a high value on quality and
  challenge of their work
• Regional clusters multi employer involvement in
  a structured process which impacts on capacity to
  attract and retain
• Close link to economic development

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Factors Affecting Skill Integration

• Skills at work
• Business strategy and
• investment decisions
• Technology
• Culture relationships
• Job design/work
• Organisation
• HR industrial relations
• Relationships with
• education
• providers

• Supply of
• skilled workers
• Education systems
• capacity
• to provide appropriate
• training
• Family and community
• supports
• Information flows
• Location match
• between job and workers
• Industry training
• effort

AFISC
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Where are we now?
JOBS
TRAINING
19 university
20 university
31 VET
63 VET
17 No post school qualification
50 No post school qualification
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Council of Australian Governments response to
skills development
More Mobile Workforce

• Overseas Qualifications

Mutual Recognition
Examining Next Stages of reform
More rapid skilling
Skills Shortages
Apprenticeship Duration
Strengthening Regions New Collaborative
Initiatives
Enabling School based new apprenticeships
Better skills information
New entry exit points in training
Improving Training Quality
Better Skills Recognition - Skills set - RPL
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Measure the success by

• Increased industry commitment to planning and
  workforce development
• Better designed, decent and rewarding jobs and
  work opportunities
• Sustainable regional jobs, workforces and
  family-friendly lifestyles to assist attraction
  and retention of skilled workers
• New and tested sources of entry level and skilled
  people
• Contribution to the revitalisation of agrifood
  business and regions.

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AFISC Change Strategy
Framework
Employability Skills
ContinuousImprovement
Consultation and Communication Strategy
Implementation Strategy
- WELL - Other Support Processes
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AFISC initiatives

• Agri-Food Industry Skills Council Change Strategy
• Projects
• Rationalisation and continuous improvement of
  Training Packages
• Employability skills
• Project integration of Training Package reviews
• Capability Building of Training Providers
• Industry Champions
• RTO Reference Group
• Workplace English Language and Literacy
• Recognition of prior learning

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AFISC Board
Skill Sets
Upskilling
Skills Passports
Implementation
Capability Building
RPL / RCC
Career Pathways
WELL
Standing Committees
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Outcomes of the Initiative

• Better designed jobs and work organisations that
  support regional skills clusters
• Education and support for regional businesses
  adopting and driving a structured workforce
  development model
• Embedding a culture of community ownership within
  regional centres, in terms of understanding and
  promoting skills development and viability of
  specific industry sectors and regional workforces
  
• The mobilisation of both traditional and new
  sources of skilled labour, to sustain the current
  and future skill demands
• Providing attractive, rewarding and reliable work
  choices and futures for people - viable
  industries and enterprises, lifestyles and lively
  communities
• An integrated and structured approach to reducing
  the gap between skills rich and the poor
  industries and locations. A focus on lifting the
  skill levels and capabilities of existing and
  mature age workers to promote a more supportive
  work environment, boosting apprenticeship
  completion rates
• Embedded within the initiatives will be a radical
  approach to recognising and valuing work,
  utilising and respecting employability skills to
  establish industry ownership and drive the
  implementation of more flexible and responsive
  training products and services