This review was commissioned in response to the recommendation of the Parliamentary Inquiry into Agricultural Education and Training [report indexed in VOCEDplus at TD/TNC 110.663] to look at the feasibility of how Victoria's agricultural colleges could be better utilised to deliver agricultural education to school, VET and higher education students. The Department commissioned ACIL Allen Consulting to undertake a 10 week study into six colleges/campuses: Dookie and Burnley which are the responsibility of the University of Melbourne; Longerenong, McMillan, and Gilbert Chandler which are leased
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This review was commissioned in response to the recommendation of the Parliamentary Inquiry into Agricultural Education and Training [report indexed in VOCEDplus at TD/TNC 110.663] to look at the feasibility of how Victoria's agricultural colleges could be better utilised to deliver agricultural education to school, VET and higher education students. The Department commissioned ACIL Allen Consulting to undertake a 10 week study into six colleges/campuses: Dookie and Burnley which are the responsibility of the University of Melbourne; Longerenong, McMillan, and Gilbert Chandler which are leased to WorkCo, Community College Gippsland, and GOTAFE respectively; Glenormiston, which was recently vacated by South West Institute of TAFE. The data analysis and consultations conducted reaffirm that agriculture plays an important role in the Victorian economy both in terms of economic value and employment, and that the skills within the sector are critical to its competitiveness. Given the importance of the agricultural workforce, skills shortages at all levels are an ongoing concern, from lower level, more practical qualifications to higher level Diplomas, Advanced Diplomas and Bachelor degrees. Specific shortages in technical areas such as Agricultural Scientists and Agronomists have resulted in some levels of international recruitment in recent years. Agriculture training in Victoria is facing challenges similar to those interstate and internationally. Production is seeing increasing capital and technological intensity, leading to reductions in the base demand for labour and the need for changed models of training delivery. There is a clear need to improve participation generally, promote a positive industry image, improve awareness, and improve participation in schools to counteract the declining interest in careers in the sector. Even following some strong growth in VET student numbers following the introduction of the VTG, enrolments in agriculture-related qualifications are no higher than they were 10 years ago. Most areas of agriculture-related higher education are also experiencing a long-term decline in enrolments.
The report is structured as follows: Chapter 2 provides an overview of the Victorian agriculture sector and current and likely future skills needs and training trends that will need to be met by the marketplace of VET and higher education providers in Victoria; Chapter 3 analyses the current provision of agricultural education and training in Victoria, including the role of the six agricultural colleges, competition in the sector and the colleges' market shares; Chapter 4 compares the utilisation of assets at other providers of agricultural education and training with that of the Victorian agricultural colleges and provides a summary of the range of alternate approaches that have and could be implemented to improve levels of utilisation; and Chapter 5 makes recommendations for the role of government and industry to ensure that any relevant market failures can be explicitly identified and interventions are appropriately justified.
Excerpts from publication.
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