The following projects are underway to improve current qualifications, skill sets and units of competency. The Government allocates projects to Industry Reference Committees (IRCs), based on advice in the IRC Skills Forecasts or a Case For Change.
On behalf of the IRCs, Skills Impact manages the projects, taking them through a process that adheres to the 2012 Standards for Training Package Development.
Click on a project below to find out more and to register your interest to receive updates.
Cross Sector
Environmental Sustainability Skills Project
Australia’s transition toward a more environmentally sustainable society is being driven by political, economic, social and environmental imperatives. The transition brings challenges for the vocational education and training system to ensure the workforce is equipped with the skills required for new, and more sustainable, ways of working
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Agriculture and Production Horticulture IRC
Agronomy Project
A Diploma of Agronomy is being developed to address the skills and knowledge requirements for job roles relating to applied agronomy.
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Ag Biosecurity & Emergency Response Project
Skills standards for preventing and managing biosecurity issues and outbreaks are being identified and benchmarked to job roles and activities, to support industry address the biosecurity issues within Australia today, and prevent those issues of tomorrow.
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Horticulture & Nursery Project
Units of competency relating to sectors engaged at all stages of the horticultural value chain will be reviewed as part of this project. This includes units relating to production nursery, retail nursery, plant culture and management, production horticulture, soils and media, and water.
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Medicinal Crops Project
National units of competency will be developed that include the skills and knowledge required to grow medicinal cannabis and poppies in Australia.
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Rural Merchandising & Sales Project
Rural merchandising workers provide vital support to farmers and horticulturalists, facilitating the sale of products and services to keep agricultural and horticultural businesses efficient and economically viable. The national qualification and units of competency are being reviewed as part of this project.
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Download outline of the project development process
Completed Projects
Once a project has been finalised, the revised qualifications, skill sets and units are published on training.gov.au and available for delivery by registered training organisations.
Click here to view completed projects
Amenity Horticulture, Landscaping, Conservation & Land Management IRC
Conservation & Land Management Project
Conservation and land management is a large and complex sector responsible for caring for Australia’s unique flora and fauna. This project is reviewing units related to this work, including the sub-sectors of lands, parks and wildlife; natural area restoration; conservation earthworks and pest management.
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Green Walls & Rooftop Gardens Project
Units of competency will be reviewed and revised if necessary to address the additional skills and knowledge required for the design, construction, installation and maintenance of green walls and rooftop gardens in Australia.
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Animal Care and Management IRC
Pet Care & Animal Training Project
The project involves the review of four separate, but related, industry sectors covered by the ACM Animal Care and Management Training Package, including General Animal Studies, Companion Animals, Pet Grooming, and Animal Control and Regulation.
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Exhibited Animal Care & Marine Wildlife Project
This project covers two distinct areas of animal care that both play a vital role in supporting the health, welfare and sustainability of some of our most vulnerable animals and wildlife. The skills standards for working with exhibited animals and for managing marine wildlife incidents are being reviewed as part of this project.
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Aquaculture and Wild Catch IRC
Fishtech & Aquabotics Project
This project will review relevant units of competency to ensure they relate to new emerging technologies in fishtech and aquabotics, particularly real-time distant operations. There is scope to develop new units and skill sets, and to import units and skills sets from the MAR Maritime Training Package where appropriate.
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Work with Crocodiles Project
This project will address the need for accessible skills standards for working with crocodiles. The focus will be on developing units of competency that can be used across all forms of work with crocodiles, to promote safe and sustainable practices.
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Food, Beverage and Pharmaceutical IRC
Flour Milling Project
The Certificate IV in Flour Milling and six grain-specific units of competency are being reviewed as part of this project, in order to support the highly technical and sought-after skills involved in flour milling.
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Food & Beverage Processing Project
A lot has changed in the food and beverage processing world in the past decade, from regulatory changes to trends in what consumers want to eat and drink. Some of the most used food and beverage qualifications are being reviewed to address these changes and give industry the tools it needs to keep up with consumer trends.
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High Volume Production Baking Project
This project will review the Certificate III in Plant Baking and three plant baking-specific units of competency, to determine how to best capture the skills standards for this sector. Seven plant baking-specific units of competency previously listed in the Food and Beverage Processing project will also be reviewed.
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Pharmaceutical Bioprocessing
This project will identify the skills standards for pharmaceutical bioprocessing manufacturing work and reflect these in vocational skills standards, supporting training opportunities in this field.
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Forest and Wood Products IRC
Timber Truss & Frame Estimating & Design Project
This project will review qualifications and units of competency relating to timber truss and frame design and manufacture to ensure current job roles are accurately reflected. It will also develop at least two skill sets to support career pathways.
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Forest Management and Harvesting IRC
New Timber Harvesting Technologies
This project will review and develop units of competency to address technological developments in the forest management and harvesting sectors, including areas such as environmental practices, geospatial data management, and forestry operations.
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Meat IRC
Diploma & Advanced Diploma in Meat Processing Project
This project will undertake a comprehensive review and update of Diploma and Advanced Diploma level qualifications in meat processing, and a review of 28 units of competency. There is scope to import or develop units where necessary to ensure the qualifications are accessible and meet industry need.
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Game Harvesting Auditing Project
This project will review current skill sets and units of competency to address skills in game harvesting auditing and wild game field depots. If necessary, a new Skill Set for Game Harvesting Auditing will be developed to ensure appropriate food safety and biosecurity standards are met within this highly specialised industry.
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Halal Meat Processing
The project will address the need for a unified training approach to halal meat processing, considering units of competency included in the Certificate III in Meat Processing (Slaughtering) and (Quality Assurance) and Certificate IV in Meat Processing (Quality Assurance) and developing new units of competency and skill sets as necessary.
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Poultry Processing Project
This project will address current gaps in poultry processing training to keep up with high consumer demand and increased automation in the industry. New skill sets and units will be developed, and current poultry units reviewed.
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Timber Building Solutions IRC
Timber Merchandising Project
The project will review and update qualifications and units of competency relating to skills in timber merchandising, ensuring broad retail skills and the specialist knowledge required to sell and distribute timber are addressed.
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