Dairy Industry
Skills Plan
August 2009
Table of Contents
1.
Foreword ....................................................................................................................................................... 3
2.
Our Skills Plan ............................................................................................................................................... 4
3.
Our Skills Commitment .............................................................................................................................. 6
4.
Our Skills Actions......................................................................................................................................... 7
List of Abbreviations
DEDTA
Department of Economic Development, Tourism and the Arts
NCDEA
National Centre for Dairy Education Australia
RTO
Registered Training Organisation
TIAR
Tasmanian Institute of Agricultural Research
TSI
Tasmanian Skills Institute
UTas
University of Tasmania
VET
Vocational Education and Training
Disclaimer
The information contained in this document has been sourced from various consultations,
publications and websites.
Stenning & Associates Pty Ltd and its sub-contractors accept no responsibility for the accuracy or
completeness of the information gained from these sources and recommends that readers
exercise their own skill and care with respect to its use.
Produced by
In conjunction with
Page 2 of 15
1. Foreword
The continual improvement of the skills of dairy farm owners, managers and workers is an
important component in achieving the vision for the dairy industry of growth, long term
profitability and internationally competitive levels of productivity.
For this reason, improvements in the education and training arena have been an important part of
the current Dairy Industry Strategic Plan.
This arena supports the skills and knowledge of our managers and employees. As dairy farms get
larger and more complex in their operations these factors become more critical.
DairyTas welcomes this Skills Plan as it will provide a basis for the dairy industry and its support
services to coordinate action on skill development activities, which in turn will drive
improvements in the quality and uptake of training.
Bob Bush
Chairman
DairyTas
The challenges to Tasmania’s continued economic prosperity and social well-being are real and are
having an impact on the dairy industry.
People with the appropriate qualifications and skills in our enterprises, sectors and industries are
the key to successfully meeting these challenges.
A major aim of Skills Tasmania is to ensure that our state has a vocational education and training
system that supports a productive workforce and contributes to economic development and
success in the state.
To assist Tasmanian industry to obtain the supply of skills required to meet business objectives,
Skills Tasmania is investing in effective skill formation partnerships by introducing industry skills
plans, with a focus on industry ownership of workforce development solutions.
The Dairy Industry Skills Plan is an excellent example of effective communication, cooperation and
collaboration between dairy farmers, DairyTas and the state government.
Mark Sayer
General Manager
Skills Tasmania
Page 3 of 15
2. Our Skills Plan
DairyTas and Skills Tasmania have worked in close partnership to develop this twelve month Skills
Plan for the Tasmanian dairy industry, with a review after twelve months.
DairyTas, as the industry’s regional peak body responsible for service provision and industry
development, works to ensure skill development programs and initiatives meet industry needs. It
does this in close collaboration with Dairy Australia, the National Centre for Dairy Education
(NCDEA), dairy farmers, manufacturers and processors, government and education
representatives.
Skills Tasmania is responsible for planning, purchasing and supporting the delivery of vocational
education and training (VET) services for Tasmania; the development of policy advice for skill
development; promotion of industry investment in training; and the development, regulation and
administration of the VET system in Tasmania.
Other key stakeholders involved in this Plan include:

Dairy Australia, which is the dairy industry’s national body that is responsible for investing
funds received from Dairy Service Levy payments and governments in a range of services
for the Australian dairy industry. Dairy Australia is committed to providing programs that
help the dairy industry be collaborative, innovative, sustainable and competitive.

The NCDEA, which was established by Dairy Australia with the aim of ensuring the
delivery of quality dairy farming education and training throughout Australia. Through its
Alliance Partners, the NCDEA supports the delivery of offers high-quality vocational
education and training to the dairy industry that is accredited and recognised throughout
Australia.

The Tasmanian Institute of Agricultural Research (TIAR), which is a joint venture between
the University of Tasmania (UTas) and the Tasmanian Department of Primary Industries,
Parks, Water and the Environment. It works closely with the dairy industry, undertaking
relevant research and development programs and extension activities that inform industry
of the outcomes of those programs.

The Tasmanian Skills Institute (TSI), which provides the dairy industry with nationally
accredited vocational training as an Alliance Partner to the NCDEA.

The Tasmanian Polytechnic, which provides accredited vocational education and training at
a schools level.

UTas, which provides a range of graduate and post-graduate courses relevant to the dairy
industry.

The Department of Economic Development, Tourism and the Arts (DEDTA), which
provides a range of business development programs and assistance to the dairy industry.

Dairy industry processing and manufacturing companies, which provide dairy farmers with
a range of skill development programs focussed on improving the quality and continuity of
milk supply.
This Skills Plan provides an overarching strategic framework between the state government, the
dairy industry and other stakeholders for promoting and facilitating skill development in the dairy
industry.
It identifies strategic actions, owned by the stakeholders, which can be implemented over the next
12 months and which will support longer term changes.
Page 4 of 15
The Plan recognises that a strong focus on skill development is essential if the Tasmanian dairy
industry is to maintain a competitive edge in world markets.
The Plan will assist the industry to respond to major changes in its skill development needs arising
from trends such as farm consolidation, technological advances, variable milk prices and an ageing
workforce.
This Skills Plan supports:

The dairy industry to achieve the Dairy Industry Strategic Plan 2006-2010 growth
objective. It does this by seeking to improve industry performance in human resource skill
development to underpin improvements to industry profitability, productivity and
competitiveness;

Skills Tasmania in achieving four of the ten Action Areas identified in the Tasmanian Skills
Strategy 2008-2015, namely :
o deliver responsive, high quality education and training;
o skills for innovation and future industries;
o meet industry demand for skills; and
o improve workforce development;

Skills Tasmania in its overall priority setting for purchasing and funding skill development
activities.
Page 5 of 15
3. Our Skills Commitment
In committing to this Skills Plan:

DairyTas confirms that its vision is to develop the best dairy people in the world;

Skills Tasmania confirms its support for assisting DairyTas in achieving its vision; and

Both partners confirm their commitment to a sustainable productive partnership to
facilitate the Plan’s implementation and evaluation.
Accordingly, the mission of the partners is to:

Provide strong leadership in dairy farming skill development;

Ensure the delivery of quality dairy farming skill development opportunities that are
relevant, accessible and promote excellence;

Ensure the development of a highly skilled, passionate and professional Tasmanian dairy
farming workforce; and

Ensure that quality skill development opportunities are available that promote best practice
and foster improvements in industry productivity, profitability and competitiveness.
To progress and monitor this Plan, DairyTas and Skills Tasmania will formalise and extend their
partnership and establish appropriate review arrangements.
These arrangements will determine whether the Plan needs to be extended beyond June 2010.
The NCDEA Tasmanian Regional Advisory Committee will support this partnership by ensuring
that the main Actions within the Plan are specifically part of its agenda, and assisting with the
evaluation arrangements.
The parties to this Plan recognise that the effective implementation, communication and evaluation
of the Skills Plan is critical to its success.
In committing to this Plan, those responsible for implementing actions will develop key
performance indicators for each action, report on progress towards those actions and
communicate to relevant stakeholders the outcomes of the actions.
Page 6 of 15
4. Our Skills Actions
Skill development in the dairy industry is not a new phenomenon.
Significant amounts of skill development work and training activities have been in place in the
industry for decades, often with emphasis on entry level training.
The purpose of this plan is to focus effort on strengthening and building on areas requiring
stimulus, with the expectation that those things that are already being done well will continue to
be done so.
In particular, the plan focuses on the skill needs of the whole dairy industry, not just those of entry
level workers.
This recognises the importance of investing in the upskilling of existing industry workers and
managers and reskilling new entrants from other industry sectors.
Four key action themes have been identified as the basis for continual skill development in the
dairy industry.
The themes are purposely ‘high level’ to provide a strong platform for focusing future skill
development activity in the dairy industry.
Developing a Training Culture
Continual improvement of the skill base of the farm workforce is essential if the dairy industry is
to increase its productivity, profitability and competitiveness in national and international markets.
It is particularly important in an environment where a range of industry trends are changing the
skill requirements and career pathways in the industry.
Page 7 of 15
Central to achieving this improvement is the development of a strong industry training culture that
supports and encourages ongoing skill development.
Currently, the dairy industry does not have a strong training culture and it is not a significant user
of formal, structured tertiary or vocational training. Further, statistics indicate a reduction in the
take up of accredited training by dairy farmers over the period 2002 and 2006.
The industry predominately uses informal skill development opportunities that are issue based and
delivered in the farm setting, such as field days, discussion groups, demonstration days and product
or research based extension activities. The most important characteristics that industry
participants take into account when accessing skill development activities include the location of
delivery, cost and relevance.
This Plan recognises that to develop a training culture there is a need to:

Improve the industry’s understanding of the skills required by the various career pathways
and job roles within the dairy industry and the qualifications and skill sets available to
service these skill requirements;

Encourage dairy industry use of the training system by:
o Demonstrating the benefits of skill development to farm productivity and
profitability; and
o Supporting and simplifying employer engagement of Australian Apprentices and
work placements;

Strengthen the industry’s use of formal training for skill development by developing linkages
between accredited training and informal, non-accredited training.
Building the Business of Dairying
International market volatility, industry consolidation and new technological advances are key
trends driving changes to the structure of the dairy industry workforce and its skill development
needs.
In this environment, dairy farm businesses need access to high quality management level skill
development opportunities that help them keep abreast of innovative and current management
and technological advances and maximise their competitive advantage in the market place.
To achieve this access, the Plan includes actions focussed on:

Developing an improved understanding of how well the skill needs of dairy farm managers
are currently being met;

Improving the range of options available for developing high priority management level skill
sets; and

Investigating the potential for establishing a targeted management program.
Skilling the Dairy Workforce
A soundly skilled dairy industry workforce is essential to continued industry development and
farm productivity.
Skills development opportunities for the farm workforce must continue to be available through a
variety of sources – entry level training of apprentices, reskilling of those entering the industry
from other sectors and upskilling of the existing dairy industry workforce.
Page 8 of 15
The quality and delivery of these options must be improved and maintained to ensure the ongoing
skill development of the farm workforce.
To achieve these objectives, the Plan includes actions focussed on:

Developing an improved understanding of how well the skill needs of dairy farm workers
are currently being met; and

Improving the range of options available for developing priority operations level skill sets.
Improving Quality Training Outcomes
The quality and relevance of training to industry skill development relies heavily on the quality of
training delivery and outcomes which, in turn, is directly affected by the level of support given to
the training infrastructure.
This Plan recognises that continual investment in supporting and developing trainers and assessors
and the training infrastructure is essential for the delivery of high quality skill development
services.
The Plan includes a number of actions focussed on:

Utilising Dairy Australia’s NCDEA Alliance to support and improve the quality and range of
skill development services available to the dairy industry;

Improving the capacity and capability of industry trainers;

Establishing mechanisms to recognise existing skills gained through informal, non-accredited
training;

Developing arrangements between the TIAR and the TSI to link TIAR extension activities
to qualifications and skill sets delivered by the TSI;

Generating industry involvement that supports a range of training initiatives and programs;

Identifying impediments to the take-up of training by the industry to inform the
development of initiatives to overcome these impediments; and

Skills Tasmania having regard to the Skills Plan when determining its funding and
procurement priorities.
Section 5 outlines the specific actions identified for each theme that have been agreed with
stakeholders.
Page 9 of 15
5. Our Detailed Action Plan
#
Actions Required
Priority
Status
High Medium Low
New or Existing
High
New
Related
Actions
Sponsor
Stakeholders
Supporting
Timeframe
Stakeholders
DairyTas
Dairy Australia’s
People in Dairy
Program,
Manufacturers
and Processors,
NCDEA
A. Developing a Training Culture
1
Establish a project to identify, document and communicate maps
to demonstrate dairy skill and career pathways.
The project will:
 Provide maps that clearly illustrate:

the job roles employed in the dairy industry
workforce;

the skill sets required for those job roles;

the qualifications available that can provide
those skill sets; and

the potential career pathways within the dairy
industry; and
 Communicate the maps to industry stakeholders to
generate acceptance and buy-in.
The project will build on the existing work done in this area by
Dairy Australia’s “The People in Dairy” program by customising
and adapting it to Tasmanian industry needs. It will also have
reference to similar skills and career maps used by the New
Zealand dairy industry.
These skill and career pathway maps will provide the dairy
industry and training providers with a sound basis for
developing, marketing and accessing skill development services
that meet clear industry skill needs.
Page 10 of 15
Dec 2009
#
2
Actions Required
Establish a project to encourage dairy industry use of the
training system that involves the following activities:
Priority
Status
New or Existing
Related
Actions
Sponsor
Stakeholders
Supporting
Timeframe
Stakeholders
High Medium Low
High
Part New
Part
Existing
D3
D4
D6
TSI
DairyTas,
NCDEA, All
Training
Providers,
Manufacturers
and Processors,
Skills Tasmania,
DEDTA, TIAR
Dec 2009
High
New
DairyTas, Skills
Tasmania
NCDEA, All
Training
Providers, TIAR,
Manufacturers
and Processors
Mar 2010
 Working with Dairy Australia and the NCDEA to develop a
series of case studies and other relevant resources that
demonstrate the value of training to dairy business
profitability and competitiveness and to dairy industry
workers; and
 Developing resources that simplify and assist employer
engagement of Australian Apprentices and work
placements.
The resources developed by these activities are to be
disseminated to industry via DairyTas, the TSI, the Tasmanian
Polytechnic and TIAR.
3
Establish a formal protocol that supports the linking of
accredited and non-accredited training options. The protocol
will provide a basis for providers of non-accredited training to
reach agreement with Registered Training Organisations
(RTOs) to formally link non-accredited training to accredited
training programs.
The protocol will be implemented by:
 DairyTas developing a protocol which outlines the
standards that relevant providers of non-accredited training
must meet in order for that training to be recognised by
NCDEA Alliance Partners (RTOs) as the basis for linking
non-accredited to their accredited training;
 NCDEA Alliance Partners being required to comply with
this protocol through the Charter being implemented
under Action D1 of this Plan; and
 Commitment to the protocol being taken into
consideration by Dairy Australia and Skills Tasmania when
determining funding priorities for industry supported
training.
Page 11 of 15
#
Actions Required
Priority
Status
Related
Actions
Sponsor
Stakeholders
Supporting
Timeframe
Stakeholders
High Medium Low
New or Existing
High
New
A1
C1
Skills Tasmania
DairyTas,
NCDEA, TSI, All
training
providers,
DEDTA, TIAR
Stage 1 – Dec
2009
Stage 2 Mar 2010
High
New
A1
B1
Dairy Australia/
NCDEA
TSI, Skills
Tasmania, UTAS
June 2010
B. Building the Business of Dairying
1
Establish a two stage project to:
 Develop an understanding of the skill needs of dairy farm
managers and how well these needs are currently being met
in terms of the range, accessibility and quality of skill
development options.
 This will require obtaining empirical data
(obtained through research methods) from dairy
farm owners and managers; and
 Use this information to:
 Establish and fund flexible, targeted programs to
deliver skill sets for improving priority
management level skill development areas; and
 Identify ongoing potential sources of data
available from government and industry.
It will focus on both the skilling or re-skilling of new entrants
and the upskilling of existing industry workers and cover (in
order of priority):
 Strategic Business Management;
 Financial Management;
 Human Resource Management;
 Technology and Information Management;
 Water and other Natural Resource Management; and
 Regulatory Compliance Management.
2
Investigate the feasibility of establishing a targeted management
program, possibly involving the concept of a national dairy
industry management cadetship.
This investigation will be informed by the outcomes of Stage 1
of Action B1.
Page 12 of 15
#
Actions Required
Priority
Status
Related
Actions
Sponsor
Stakeholders
Supporting
Timeframe
Stakeholders
High Medium Low
New or Existing
High
New
A1
B1
Skills Tasmania
DairyTas,
NCDEA, TSI, All
training
providers, TIAR,
Stage 1 – Dec
2009
Stage 2 Mar 2010
High
Existing
A3
Dairy
Australia/NCDEA,
Skills Tasmania
NCDEA Regional
Advisory
Committee, TSI,
Tasmanian
Polytechnic, All
Training
Oct 2009
Ongoing
maintenance
and evaluation
C. Skilling the Dairy Workforce
1
Establish a two stage project to:
 Develop an understanding of how well the skill needs of
dairy farm workers are currently being met in terms of the
range, accessibility and quality of skill development options;
 This will require obtaining empirical data
(obtained through research methods) from dairy
farm workers; and
 Use this information to:
 Refine the funding and delivery of vocational
programs for improving priority operations level
skill development areas; and
 Identify ongoing potential sources of data
available from government and industry.
It will focus on both the skilling or re-skilling of new entrants
and the upskilling of existing industry workers and cover the
following priority areas:
 Use of Technology;
 Animal Husbandry/Welfare;
 Nutrition Management;
 Pasture Management;
 Irrigation Management; and
 Quality Systems
D. Improving Quality Training Outcomes
1
Dairy Australia will develop a Charter that outlines:
 The role of Dairy Australia in supporting dairy industry
training through the framework of the NCDEA; and
The expectations of the nature and quality of training
outcomes to be provided by NCDEA Alliance Partners
(RTOs) to the industry.
Page 13 of 15
#
Actions Required
Priority
Status
High Medium Low
New or Existing
Related
Actions
Sponsor
Stakeholders
The Charter will replace the current Memorandum of
Understanding between Dairy Australia and TAFE.
RTOs who wish to provide NCDEA industry specific training
will need to formally commit to the Charter to become
NCDEA Alliance Partners.
Dairy Australia will seek recognition of this Charter from Skills
Tasmania. Skills Tasmania will use the Charter to guide funding
priorities for industry training delivered under the Charter.
Dairy Australia and Skills Tasmania will monitor and evaluate
compliance with the Charter, with a particular focus on the
quality of training delivery. In undertaking this role, they will
seek advice from DairyTas and the NCDEA Tasmanian Regional
Advisory Committee.
2
Deliver services to improve the capacity and capability of RTO
staff. This will involve the NCDEA working with the TSI (and
other Alliance Partners) to co-ordinate and (where
appropriate) fund the following activities :
Supporting
Timeframe
Stakeholders
Providers
High
New
D1
Dairy Australia
/NCDEA
DairyTas, TSI, All
RTOs, Skills
Tasmania
Ongoing
 Developing systems to ensure continuing professional
development and the enhancement of skills of dairy
trainers;
 Developing and maintaining a pool of quality industry
learning resources; and
 Developing industry/RTO networks by facilitating linkages
to development and training resources, programs and
activities.
3
Enhance the Recognition of Prior Learning services to support
the credentialing of skill development activities supplied to the
dairy workforce.
High
New
A2
D1
TSI
Dairy Australia
/NCDEA,
Skills Tasmania
Dec 2009
4
Develop an auspicing arrangement between TIAR and the TSI
to link TIAR extension activities to qualifications and skill sets
delivered by the TSI. This will ensure that TIAR staff delivering
extension programs are equipped with quality human resource
delivery and assessment capabilities.
High
Existing
A1
A3
D1
TSI, TIAR
Dairy Australia
/NCDEA
Oct 2009
Page 14 of 15
#
5
Actions Required
Build on existing DairyTas activities to generate industry
involvement in:
Priority
Status
Related
Actions
Sponsor
Stakeholders
Supporting
Timeframe
Stakeholders
High Medium Low
New or Existing
High
New
A1
B1-2
C1
DairyTas
Dairy Australia,
NCDEA, TIAR,
Manufacturers
and Processors,
DEDTA,
Tasmanian
Polytechnic,
UTas, TSI, All
Training
Providers
Dec 2009
Ongoing
Medium
New
A1
A2
B1
C1
Skills Tasmania,
DairyTas
All training
providers, TSI,
NCDEA
March 2010
High
New
A3
D1
Skills Tasmania
 Ensuring that the TSI has ready access to industry experts
and exemplars;
 Introductory programs, eg. Discover Agriculture, Cows
Create Careers, Picasso Cows; and
 Industry placement programs, eg. UTas, VET in Schools.
The project will result in industry networks that support
training initiatives and programs.
6
Establish a project to identify impediments to the take-up of
training by the industry. This will involve:
 Collecting feedback on the scope, quality and accessibility of
industry training;
 Surveying industry employers and workers on reasons for
non-participation in skill development opportunities; and
 Identifying relevant existing research – for example the
current research being undertaken for TIAR covering the
views of high performance dairy farmers, together with the
outcomes of Stage 1 of Actions B1 and C1 of this Skills
Plan;
The data provided by this project will inform the development
of initiatives to overcome the identified impediments.
7
Skills Tasmania will
 Adjust its current funding approaches to support the
achievement of the relevant actions in this Skills Plan; and
 Use the outcomes of this Skills Plan to inform its training
procurement decisions relating to the dairy industry.
This will occur in the context of Skills Tasmania’s broader
reforms to the current funding quarantine arrangements
applying to the TSI.
Page 15 of 15
Dec 2009