Case for change

Project Plan

These common skills feature across all sectors of the industry and they play an essential role in maintaining Australia’s food production. These skills are also critical for maintaining and preserving Australia’s national and state parks, public gardens, sporting grounds, farms and water bodies. Changes in regulations, technology, and new research has meant some of the skills requirements have evolved in recent years, and there is a need to update the national skills standards to reflect current practice.

These core skills are outlined across 75 units of competency. They are also incorporated in approximately 90 qualifications, supporting nearly every job role across all levels and sectors of the industry.

Industry stakeholders across Australia from all sectors of the agriculture, horticulture, conservation and land management industry will be consulted to help define the skills and knowledge that underpins these core work functions. Their input and feedback will reshape the current units of competency and qualifications, which have been described by several stakeholders as being too complicated and difficult to deliver by registered training organisations.

This project is part of the broader AHC Unit Sector Project to rationalise qualifications, skill sets and units and remove duplication across the AHC Agriculture, Horticulture and Conservation and Land Management Training Package, as outlined in the Skills Forecast and Proposed schedule of Work 2019 – 2022. The IRCs will consider industry feedback in light of the streamlining and prioritisation framework, to support efforts in reducing complexity of the training system and improve the accessibility of training.

This project will also offer the opportunity to review recommendations identified in recent projects, such as the possibility to introduce specialisations or streams for nursery operations, parks and gardens and seeds to existing qualifications.

Project Scope

Over the past five years, industry stakeholders have put a lot of work into updating the sector-specific qualifications within the national training package. This project will focus on the broader qualifications that apply to numerous sectors, and which can be contextualised to apply to numerous job roles. It will also include a review of 75 units that support fundamental skills across the industry.

Fifteen qualifications will undergo a full review process. Seventy additional qualifications that include some of the units being revised within their list of ‘core units’ will be updated to reflect changes in the units, but they will not undergo a full review process.

Relevant Occupations

The skills standards being reviewed as part of this project relate to all occupations of the agriculture, horticulture, conservation and land management industry.

Timeline

July-August 2021
Initial scoping

September 2021 – January 2022
Development of draft qualifications, skill sets and units

January-February 2022
Drafts available for broad consultation

May-June 2022
Validation of final drafts

June-July 2022
Finalisation of Training Package components

August-September 2022
Independent Quality Assurance, and Edit and Equity review of Training Package components

October 2022
IRC consideration for sign-off and submission for endorsement

Project Team

Opportunities for stakeholder input

Stakeholder input is appreciated throughout the duration of this project. The documents will be drafted in consultation with Subject Matter Experts and their networks. Opportunities to provide targeted feedback will occur when the draft materials are made available in January-February 2022, and again for validation of final drafts in May-June 2022. However, your feedback is welcomed at any time, and will help us in drafting the qualifications, skill set and units.

It is important that training provides a skilled and flexible workforce for the future. The units need to reflect real work experience. So, if you work in the agriculture, horticulture, conservation and land management industry, Skills Impact appreciates your input and assistance.

Those working in the dairy and milk harvesting sector are invited to engage with this project. Please register your interest in project updates and consultation opportunities by following the newsletter subscription link. Alternatively, contact the project manager, Susie Falk on [email protected] or 03 9321 3526.

Note: Due to COVID-19 restrictions, Webinars will be held to replace the face-to-face consultation workshops Skills Impact would usually host around Australia.

Stakeholder Consultation Process

A list of key stakeholder organisations has been identified for this project based on their industry role, size or specialty. Skills Impact will ensure contact is made with each of these organisations to seek their involvement and views on all draft skill sets and units. Consultation is not limited to the organisations on this list, they have simply been identified as the most, likely to have a key interest in the development and outcomes of this project

If you are aware of an organisation that you think should be involved, please contact the project team to ensure they are contacted by us.

Development

Given the number and variety of qualifications and units being reviewed, two subject matter expert working groups have been established for this project, one with an agriculture focus and one to focus on horticulture and conservation and land management. These two subject matter expert working groups met in late September for a general overview of the project and to decide a workable process of review and development. The skills and job functions are being identified as part of a workforce functional analysis process. As this is a large project and some of the units are quite specific or exist in several qualifications, preliminary desktop research is taking place followed by a series of focused workshops with subject matter experts.

Workshops are currently underway to discuss and review units by sector. The unit sectors being reviewed include:

• Work health and safety units
• Quality units
• Environment and sustainability units
• Infrastructure units
• Work units

There will be separate workshops to discuss the qualifications.

Development outcomes and next steps

Draft units and qualifications will be available on this webpage in late November 2021, giving the broader industry an opportunity to provide feedback. Your input is welcome, please feel free to register your interest to keep informed of project updates and when draft materials are available for feedback.

Drafts Available

The documents and any comments made are still available to view below. The documents are now being prepared for the ‘Validation’ stage of the project which will take place in May 2022. During this time you will have another chance to provide input on all qualifications, skill sets and units that are part of this project. Summaries of the feedback received at each stage and how it was addressed in the final drafts will also be available.

Documents Available for Feedback from 31 March to 2 May 2022

The Diploma of Community Group Coordination and Facilitation and some of the units within it were initially proposed for deletion. However, feedback provided to us during initial consultation on the drafts indicated that it caters to a niche and important sector of the Australian agricultural industry and is still required by industry. It describes important skills to foster, promote, and support community development, particularly in rural communities that are engaged in land management activities. Feedback was collected about whether the diploma and low enrolment units should be retained and if so, whether they accurately reflect job roles and functions. Six agricultural work units that sit within the Diploma of Community Coordination and Facilitation did not receive any comments during the initial round of feedback and were also made available for feedback in the context of the updated qualification.

Documents Made Available for Feedback from 9 December to 4 February 2022

During this time feedback was sought on 13 qualifications, 53 units of competency, and one skill set, as well as the proposed deletion of two qualifications and 21 units of competency that have had low or zero enrolments over the past five years.

As part of this stage, there was an opportunity to participate in consultation webinars to discuss the drafts with the project team and other individuals from industry. These webinars focused on core skills required across agriculture, horticulture and conservation land management industry sectors.

If you could not attend one of the webinars or would like to revisit the content, a video presentation that provides an overview of the project is available below.

Qualifications

Thirteen qualifications were fully reviewed with significant changes made, including changes to the list of ‘core units’ to incorporate skills standards around workplace health and safety, environmental sustainability and communication. The groups of ‘elective units’ were also revised to be more focussed on outcomes that are specifically reflective of agriculture or horticulture.

Feedback was sought on placement of seeds units (coded SPD and SPO) in the Group B electives of the agriculture certificates III and IV and whether they are better suited to Group A.

There is the potential for units developed as part of the Permaculture, Organic Production & Composting and Water Allocation & Entitlement Skills projects to be placed in the general agriculture qualifications once these projects have undertaken further consultation.

Units of Competency

Significant changes were made to almost all 53 units of competency reviewed, including:

• changes to wording to make it more consistent, concise and clear
• strengthening of safety skills
• changes to include a focus on consultation as well as communication skills
• changes to pathways and accessibility to support uptake and improve relevance.

For further details about changes made to the units download the Summary of Technical Changes.

Qualifications & Units with Low Enrolments

A priority for Skills Ministers in 2021 is to ensure employers’ and learners’ needs can be met through the VET system by reducing the complexity of the training system and improving accessibility of training. One of the key considerations is whether there is a need for formal training of skills through the VET system to achieve competency in the job role.

Enrolment numbers are a key piece of evidence to indicate the need for formal VET training. There may be a number of explanations for low enrolment numbers in a unit of competency or qualification, and the AISC are asking industry to confirm whether low enrolment numbers are an indication of lack of industry need, or whether there may be reasons for keeping the relevant skill in the formal training system in spite of low enrolment numbers.

The cut-off point for specific review of units has been set at fewer than 42 enrolments over the last three years.

Several of the units and qualifications being reviewed as part of this project have been identified as meeting this criteria between 2015 – 2020.

The AISC will consider industry viewpoints for maintaining these, backed up by evidence of future enrolments as reasons for them to be retained.

To help guide the AISC decision, the Industry Reference Committee needs to provide information around the following factors:

• Whether units proposed for retention are core to qualifications being retained?
• Are there linkages with industrial and legislative arrangements?
• Are enrolments expected to increase in the near future? And if so, why?
• Is there employment growth in the skills outlined in the unit/qualifications? And if so, why?
• Is there another specialist requirement to keep the unit/qualification?
• If these products are updated to a ‘deleted’ status, they will still be accessible on training.gov.au as a reference point for industry to use for non-enrolment purposes. However, registered training organisations will be unable to enrol students in deleted units or qualifications. They will no longer be considered part of the VET delivery system and will not be funded for delivery, whilst they are in “deleted” status.

Feedback was collected on these questions as part of the initial ‘Drafts Available’ stage of this project. Click on the accordions below to see the qualifications and units that the AISC are considering for deletion and details of the past five years of enrolments for each.

Other Qualifications Impacted

As the units being reviewed as part of this project describe essential skills used across agriculture, horticulture, conservation and land management, as well as other sectors, they are included in many qualifications across these sectors. Any updates made to the units as a result of consultation throughout this project will also be reflected in these other qualifications that contain them, so they incorporate the most recent versions. These qualifications are primarily from the AHC Agriculture, Horticulture and Conservation and Land Management Training Package, however qualifications from other training packages also incorporate the units. A table of the impacted qualifications, which of the relevant units they contain and whether they are core or listed as electives is included in the accordion below. Please note, some of the qualifications listed below have recently undergone review as part of other projects and will soon be updated on the national register.

Consultation to date

The draft qualifications, skill sets and units of competency have been developed in consultation with subject matter experts. They have considered feedback that was received out of workforce functional analysis workshops in September 2021. People working directly in agriculture, horticulture and conservation land management participated and provided information on the skills and knowledge required for job functions. Thank you to those who provided feedback during these activities.

Two subject matter expert (SME) working groups were established early in the project, one to discuss skills standards relevant to agriculture and one to discuss skills standards relevant to horticulture, conservation and land management. Given the large number of units to be reviewed, several smaller meetings were undertaken with a focus on sectors, in total, 13 workshop were held with SMEs electing to attend the workshop(s) most relevant to their area of expertise. Several SMEs attended either all agriculture focused or all horticulture, conservation and land management focused workshops, in addition to those with a general focus. Workforce functional analysis was incorporated into these workshops.

Validation

They were revised to include work functions that reflect current job roles in the industry and incorporate the latest technologies, equipment and advances in agriculture, horticulture and community coordination and facilitation. The Certificate IV in Agriculture, the Certificate IV in Horticulture and the Diploma of Agriculture had their previously proposed entry requirements removed so that they remain accessible to learners with relevant industry experience and technical skills. The qualification descriptions were updated to clarify who the qualifications are intended for. The entry requirements for the Diploma of Horticulture Management were also revised. Updates were made to the Diploma of Community Coordination and Facilitation so that it better reflects the job role and skills required. Some units underwent changes to their sector codes to better reflect the skills they describe. Most units underwent changes to their performance criteria, foundation skills, performance evidence and knowledge evidence in response to stakeholder feedback. The two newly developed units, AHCPCM3X8 Identify and select plants and AHCMOM3X18 Operate a telehandler, underwent significant consultation with stakeholders since they were created, so that they are applicable to all who use them and better reflect job functions and to avoid duplication.

For further details of the changes made download the Summary of Technical Changes document

Summary of Consultation and Feedback

Thank you to those stakeholders who provided feedback on the drafts that were made available from 9 December until 4 February, and the additional drafts made available from 31 March to 29 April, under the ‘Drafts Available’ stage. During these times, feedback was collected via the online feedback hub, webinars, phone call and email. The units were drafted with guidance from Subject Matter Experts, made up of people working directly in agriculture, horticulture and community coordination and facilitation, as well as registered training providers.

Initially two subject matter expert (SME) working groups were established, one to discuss skills standards relevant to agriculture and one to discuss skills standards relevant to horticulture and conservation and land management. A third SME working group was established to discuss skills standards relevant to community coordination and facilitation after initial feedback identified the importance of this niche sector of the agriculture industry. In total 27 meetings have taken place to discuss qualifications, skill sets and units contained in this project.

The following changes have been made as a result of feedback received during the drafts available stage:

• Entry requirements were removed from the Certificate IV in Agriculture, the Certificate IV in Horticulture and the Diploma of Agriculture so that they remain accessible to learners with relevant prior learning or experience. Qualification descriptions have been revised in these qualifications to specify that learners require industry experience and technical skills and knowledge gained through training or employment specifically in the relevant industry.
• Entry requirements were revised for the Diploma of Horticulture Management so that it is only accessible to those with the relevant prior learning or experience.
• The Diploma of Community Coordination and Facilitation was retitled to Diploma of Community Group Coordination and Facilitation to better describe the job role. The packaging rules were also updated to include a core of four units. 
• CHCMGT004 Secure and manage funding was added to the electives of the Diploma of Community Group Coordination and Facilitation as managing and securing funding is a major function of this job role.
• Some units had their sector codes changed to better reflect the skills they describe.
• Changes were made in performance criteria, foundation skills, performance evidence and knowledge evidence of most units in response to stakeholder feedback.
• Both developed units of competency, AHCPCM3X8 Identify and select plants and AHCMOM3X18 Operate a telehandler, underwent significant review so that they are applicable to all who use them, so that they better reflect job functions and to avoid duplication.

A description of how feedback was considered and applied in these final drafts can be downloaded below. Please click the ‘Download Summary of Feedback, Responses and Actions’ button.

Qualifications and Skill Sets

Units of Competency

Qualifications & Units with Low Enrolments

A priority for Skills Ministers in 2021 is to ensure employers’ and learners’ needs can be met through the VET system by reducing the complexity of the training system and improving accessibility of training. One of the key considerations is whether there is a need for formal training of skills through the VET system to achieve competency in the job role.

Enrolment numbers are a key piece of evidence to indicate the need for formal VET training. There may be a number of explanations for low enrolment numbers in a unit of competency or qualification, and the AISC are asking industry to confirm whether low enrolment numbers are an indication of lack of industry need, or whether there may be reasons for keeping the relevant skill in the formal training system in spite of low enrolment numbers.

The cut-off point for specific review of units has been set at fewer than 42 enrolments over the last three years.

Several of the units and qualifications being reviewed as part of this project have been identified as meeting this criteria between 2015 – 2020.

The AISC will consider industry viewpoints for maintaining these, backed up by evidence of future enrolments as reasons for them to be retained.

To help guide the AISC decision, the Industry Reference Committee needs to provide information around the following factors:

• Whether units proposed for retention are core to qualifications being retained?
• Are there linkages with industrial and legislative arrangements?
• Are enrolments expected to increase in the near future? And if so, why?
• Is there employment growth in the skills outlined in the unit/qualifications? And if so, why?
• Is there another specialist requirement to keep the unit/qualification?
• If these products are updated to a ‘deleted’ status, they will still be accessible on training.gov.au as a reference point for industry to use for non-enrolment purposes. However, registered training organisations will be unable to enrol students in deleted units or qualifications. They will no longer be considered part of the VET delivery system and will not be funded for delivery, whilst they are in “deleted” status.

Feedback was collected on these questions as part of the initial ‘Drafts Available’ stage of this project and some qualifications and units are now proposed to be retained as a result. Click on the accordions below to see the qualifications and units that the AISC are considering for deletion and details of the past five years of enrolments for each. Feedback was also welcomed at the ‘Validation’ stage.

Other Qualifications Impacted

As the units being reviewed as part of this project describe essential skills used across agriculture, horticulture, conservation and land management, as well as other sectors, they are included in many qualifications across these sectors. Any updates made to the units as a result of consultation throughout this project will also be reflected in these other qualifications that contain them, so they incorporate the most recent versions. These qualifications are primarily from the AHC Agriculture, Horticulture and Conservation and Land Management Training Package, however qualifications from other training packages also incorporate the units. A table of the impacted qualifications, which of the relevant units they contain and whether they are core or listed as electives is included in the accordion below. Please note, some of the qualifications listed below have recently undergone review as part of other projects and will soon be updated on the national register.