Agriculture, Horticulture, Conservation and Land Management (AHC) are key contributors to the Australian economy. Merchandising operations and sales play a vital role in keeping these industries afloat, providing the technology, equipment and services to make businesses competitive.

The skills required for rural merchandising overlap with other retail work. However, specific knowledge of the agricultural sector is necessary to provide information to farmers and horticulturalists about the products they are purchasing. The specifics of this knowledge are always shifting due to technological advancements and the fast-paced nature of retail environments. As such rural merchandisers require consistently updated training that recognises the unique challenges of working in such a large-scale industry.

Australian farmers and horticulturalists spend billions of dollars every year on products and services to keep their businesses efficient and economically viable. Rural merchandising workers are usually the first point of contact for farmers looking to invest in machinery, technology and other services. These retail employees are often in customer-facing service and sales roles, advising on farm specific merchandise, handling inventory control, processing orders in the context of the AHC environment. Importantly, rural merchandising also relates to the work of livestock auctioneers, stock and station agents, real estate agents, business managers and agronomists.

Specialised knowledge is required to sell the equipment and chemicals used in agricultural businesses. Knowledge of the parts and warranties of different machines or the appropriate chemicals to use with certain crops or livestock are vital to ensuring farmers get the right products for the job. Farmers may drive hours to purchase a replacement part or medicine for an animal and cannot afford to be sold the wrong product. For this reason, it’s important that skills standards are up-to-date and address the unique context of the industry.

Relevant Occupations

Examples of job roles that relate to this qualification include:

• Rural merchandisers
• Rural sales assistants

Project Team

Timeline

The project will take approximately 12 months to be completed. A number of industry consultation workshops will be held across Australia after the initial SME workshop(s) have been completed.

July 2019
Initial scoping

August – mid September 2019
Development of draft qualifications, skill sets and units

mid-September – mid October 2019
Drafts available for broad consultation

December 2019
Public Validation of final drafts

January – February 2020
Finalisation of Training Package components

June 2020
Submission for endorsement

Rural merchandising workers are usually the first point of contact for farmers looking to invest in machinery, technology and other services. Much of rural merchandising is affected by radically evolving products and markets. Rural merchandising workers need specialist knowledge to provide information about equipment, chemicals or other products so that farmers get the right item for the job.

Subject Matter Experts are currently being engaged to review the structure of the Certificate III in Rural Merchandising, which supports general merchandising operations and sales jobs in the industry. Feedback so far suggests that the Certificate III in Rural Merchandising requires significant changes to the structure of the qualification. The units of competency that make up this qualification need to be reviewed to reflect the current skilled work activities. The Subject Matter Expert Working Group also identified that the level IV AQF (Australian Qualifications Framework) units should be considered as part of the elective list of units in the qualification.

Consultation Workshops – Registrations Open!

A revised draft of the qualification and units will become available for broad consideration and feedback from mid-September to mid-October 2019 (under the ‘Drafts Available’ menu above). We welcome your feedback and advice on the draft skills standards in this time. Face-to-face consultation workshops will also take place across states and territories, with a webinar planned for those unable to attend in person. Registrations for these workshops are now open. Register for a workshop near you by clicking the corresponding link.

Face-to-face consultation workshops

Tues 17 Sept ‘19, 11.30am-1.30pm AEDT – Mildura – register here

Wed 25 Sept ’19, 11.30am-1.30pm ACST – Adelaide – register here

Thurs 26 Sept ’19, 11.30am-1.30pm AEDST – Sydney – register here

Tues 8 Oct ’19, 11.30am-1.30pm AEST – Brisbane – register here

Wed 9 Oct ’19, 11.30am-1.30pm AEST – Cairns – register here

Thurs 10 Oct ’19 11.30am-1.30pm AEDST – Melbourne – register here

Tue 15 Oct ’19, 11.30am-1.30pm ACST – Darwin – register here

Wed 16 Oct ’19, 11.30am-1.30pm AWST – Perth – register here

Consultation webinar

Mon 14 Oct ’19, 1.00pm–2.30pm AWST – Webinar – register here

Rural merchandising is an essential part of Australia’s agricultural and horticultural landscape, providing products and services to farmers looking to invest in machinery, technology or other services. This work requires specific product knowledge, including of large expensive machinery and farming chemicals, in order to ensure farmers are getting the right product in a timely fashion.

The Certificate III in Rural Merchandising and units of competency within it have been reviewed to address these specialised skills and ensure they are relevant to current practices, markets and products.

Thank you to those who provided feedback on the draft units of competency and qualification that were made available on this webpage for feedback from 16 September – 20 October 2019. 

During this time, feedback was collected via the online feedback hub, eight face-to-face consultation workshops, one webinar, and email. The drafts, including any comments made on the feedback hub, are still available for viewing below.

Feedback will inform the work on the final drafts which are expected to be available for industry validation in December 2019. A summary of the feedback and how it was addressed in the final drafts will also be available.

Download project flyer

Australian agricultural and horticultural enterprises are dependent on the rural merchandising sector for providing access to the products and services they need. Working in this field requires specific product knowledge to provide farmers and horticulturalists with information about the products they wish to invest in, such as new technology, large expensive machinery, and farming chemicals.

Thank you to those who provided feedback on the final draft qualification and units of competency that were made available on this webpage for feedback from 20 December 2019 – 28 January 2020.

They have been revised to address the limitations of the old qualification, which industry felt no longer accurately described their job functions and the range of tasks that rural merchandisers and rural sales assistants are required to perform.

Final drafts of the qualification and units can be viewed in the lists below.

Download project flyer

Download Summary of Feedback, Responses and Actions