Delivery of the Forestry Workforce Training Program

The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry is seeking a supplier to deliver the Forestry Workforce Training Program.

An ongoing issue for forestry industries is access to, and retention of, appropriately qualified workers. This is partially driven by a competitive job market and partially driven by issues impacting delivery of training and/or credentials, particularly a lack of training options for key skills.

Forestry and wood products industries have diverse skills and knowledge requirements ranging from nursery and plantation skills, heavy haulage and machinery use to fine motor skills and IT systems required for timber processing. The education levels, skills and training requirements can be unique to individual business types depending on which part of the sector they are in, the products they produce, and the machinery and technology used. The training required to support employment in these industries can range from short, in-house courses to formal qualifications.

At the October 2022-23 Budget, the Australian Government announced $10 million to support the delivery of qualifications, competencies, or credentials to meet the specific training and accreditation needs of the forest and wood products industries.

In recognition of the diverse needs of the forest and wood products industries, the ongoing reforms in the vocational and education training sector and negotiations on a new National Skills Agreement, a Scoping Study was undertaken as the first step to inform implementation of the Program.

The development of the Scoping Study included extensive consultation with industry, training providers, industry bodies, forest and wood products certification bodies, unions, state and territory governments, First Nations people and Commonwealth government departments.

The recommendations from the Scoping Study identified six high level themes to be addressed through implementation of the Program. Of these six themes, five will be addressed through this procurement:

• Developing the industry’s capability through workplace skills and training

• Enhancing Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) and training and assessment capability in the industry

• Supporting career-long learning and skills development

• Developing critical training materials and infrastructure

• Coordinating management of the Forestry Workforce Training Program