The state’s sheep and wool industry is riding high but there is one hiccup – no new professional classers or even owner classers are being trained in SA.
In 2016 the Agrifood Industry Skills Council revised the standards for the Certificate III and IV in woolclassing.
Both Vic and NSW training bodies have updated their courses to meet these new requirements but SA’s sole provider tafeSA is still working on its new package.
The next enrolments for both courses are not expected in SA until the second half of this year.
WoolTAG chair Geoff Power says the void of SA woolclasser training is “not good enough”.
“The sheep flock is increasing and there is an increase in people shearing every six months or eight to nine months which is already putting pressure on the labour force, so we need to continue to train people in the industry,” he said.
He also has concerns with the added requirements set for the Certificate III in Wool Preparation, for those farmers just looking to class their own flocks.
The course contact hours have increased dramatically from 778 hours to 1143 hours – just 60 hours less than those required by a professional classer completing a Certificate IV.
The Orroroo grower says this change will hit SA hard, as it is home to the nation’s highest proportion of owner classers.
Australian Wool Exchange figures show 3250 owner classers are registered in SA compared with 527 professional classers.
In comparison Vic has 2561 professional classers and 936 owner classers.
Mr Power fears the changes could put at risk the high preparation standards of the Australian wool clip, with potentially more bales sent into woolstores without a stencil, especially in SA.
‘We are better to have people partially trained than not trained at all,” he said.
Mr Power believes there are areas where the owner classer course could be made less onerus, including the 320 hour module ‘Establish Work Routines and Manage Wool Harvesting and Preparation Staff’, also in the Certificate IV syllabus.
“If you are classing your own shed, for example a two-stand shed with just a roustabout and a classer it is not necessary,” he said.
tafeSA wool lecturer Colin Loffler says the changes to the Certificate III and IV are “out of his hands” with the national training body setting the hours required.
“It has taken longer than we thought but there is a desktop audit in place,” he said.
The federal government-funded Skills Impact supports the operation of Industry Reference Committees, which develop industry competency skills standards for use by the VET sector, including woolclassing.
Its chief executive officer Michael Hartman says under national RTO rules set by the RTO regulator, the Australian Skills Quality Authority, RTOs have 12 months to continue teaching the “old” qualifications before needing to put the new qualifications on scope.
Under normal conditions, most RTOs, who have decided to continue delivery of these qualifications, would have undergone an internal process to prepare for delivery of the new qualification during 2017 and either be delivering the new qualification by now or be offering it during 2018.
Mr Hartman encouraged any group with an issue with the content of a qualification to contact them.
“We only have minor comments regarding the wool group of qualifications, leading to some potential small changes going forward,” he said.
Grower courses need flexibility
Bool Lagoon woolgrower Scott Harlock says training must be flexible, with farmers not able to afford days at a time away from their properties.
During the past year, he has completed part-time a Certificate IV in Woolclassing, through Hamilton-based Rural Industries Skills Training, with much of it online, as well as a few contact hours each month at Edenhope, Vic.
With another property in Vic he was able to enrol with the Vic-based trainer and also received a 50 per cent discount on the $5500 course fee.
But he says it is a concern that training providers are not able to offer courses across different states.
He opted to complete the Certificate IV rather than a Certificate III as it was only another 60 hours, which he says is not too onerus.
In fact he believes industry should consider regular re-training rather than gaining lifetime accreditation.
“It should be like your Chemcert course or your first aid certificate that you have re-training every five or six years so you are up to speed for any new specifications,” he said.
Mr Harlock chose to complete his classers’ stencil to get an understanding of how their 140-bale Shepherds Way clip was being prepared.
“Our year’s wool clip makes up 34 to 40 per cent of our gross income so one woolclasser can have a huge impact on the premiums and discounts we receive,” he said.
