ADPF Submission: Draft Core Skills Occupations List

ADPF welcomed the opportunity to provide a submission to Jobs and Skills Australia’s Draft Core Skills Occupations List (CSOL) to support defining Australia’s skill needs for the national migration strategy.

The Australian dairy processing industry is on the cusp of change, where more than 50 per cent of the workforce will be leaving the industry in the next five to 10 years and there is serious competition for sourcing the skilled and unskilled labour it will require for the future.

There are increasing expectations around issues such as food safety, product quality, and employee safety and working conditions and there are significant challenges in meeting the training and development needs of the dairy processing workforce today and into the future.

The technology employed to produce Australian dairy products is ‘world best’, this ensures our industry is competitive in the world market.

It demands committed and well-trained employees to operate and manage sophisticated high output equipment. Because of this, dairy food processors need a higher proportion of skilled labour than most food manufacturing systems.

A quarter (23 per cent) of dairy processing jobs are classified in the two highest (ANZSCO) skill categories.

However, the Australian dairy processing sector is experiencing severe labour pressures across the board with access to a skilled and capable workforce impacting business performance and profitability particularly in regional Australia which comprises more than half the sector’s direct workforce (56.5 per cent).

ADPF and Australian dairy processors need to attract more skilled people to the industry.

This will be through upskilling existing employees, reskilling existing employees and attracting new entrants – both from our domestic and international workforce.

We need access to specialty dairy processing skills, and we need to address the shortfall in domestic training and development services.

Visa options must be broadened and made accessible to cover dairy processing and the CSOL adjusted to acknowledge skills shortages in key dairy processing occupations.

Likewise, the establishment of training in specialist and technical dairy and food processing knowledge is critical to support traditional, modern, and sophisticated dairy processing, reliant on industry working in collaboration with government and local service providers.

Our recommendations

The dairy manufacturing industry is experiencing significant shortages and does not have the capability to train the workforce in the numbers or level required to meet the industry needs. The provision of people with specialist dairy manufacturing skills through the migration system will be critical to support the interim shortage of training and service provisions across the Australian dairy processing sector.

We recommend the Draft CSOL for Consultation be amended to include:

1. Specific reference to priority dairy manufacturing occupations: Dairy Food Production Manager – Manufacturing; Dairy Food quality assurance/ control manager; Dairy Food Quality Assurance/ Control Officer.
2. Key missing dairy manufacturing occupations: Dairy Food Packaging Technologists; Dairy Food Manufacturing Automation Engineers; Dairy Food Production Worker – Manufacturing Worker; Cheese Grader.
3. ‘Dairy Food’ in relevant descriptors/ specialisations, in recognition of the need for dairy manufacturing skills and experience: From Supply and Distribution Managers to Regulatory Affairs, and Dietitians.

Read the submission in full.