Future-proofing the NA aquaculture industry need for skilled staff to 2050

The aquaculture industry in Northern Australia (NA) is undergoing a period of unprecedented growth, precipitating an increasing demand for skilled staff. To facilitate this growth, the industry requires an increasing stream of suitably skilled and qualified entrants to the industry workforce. Prior to this project, the extent to which educational models aligned to industry requirements was unclear, in terms of graduate knowledge and skills, but also in terms of graduate numbers. In designing the project Future-proofing the Northern Australia aquaculture industry need for skilled staff to 2050, the project team from James Cook University sought to address this alignment, while also identifying barriers to cost-effective delivery of vocational training for the Northern Australian aquaculture industry and investigating new training models that may assist.

Quantitative and qualitative data on skills and roles in the Northern Australian aquaculture production industry were sourced via structured interviews and questionnaires. The project team used this data to define three categories of employment across the sector thus informing the development of educational resources and materials as well as recommendations around how the industry needs to work  harder to increase its attractiveness and awareness for new entrants as well as retaining staff that currently work within the industry.

This report concluded on-farm vocational education remains a central pillar of existing workforce skill development and staff retention, but as the industry grows, retention will be increasingly dependent on a structured approach to career development, including job satisfaction, skill development and remuneration. 

The project has contributed digital training modules that are envisaged to support Registered Training Organisations and universities train the next generation of aquaculture staff and engage new entrants to the industry. These are not intended to supplant existing training models and the value of face-to-face training and assessment cannot be over-emphasised.

Publication Date
Author

Nankervis,L., Barbaro, G., Irving,A., oyce,M., Pizzutto,M.,Diedrich,A., Condon,K.

ISBN
978-1-922437-39-6
Industry
Aquaculture
Publication Type
Report