This project will transfer units of competency and qualifications currently in the ZRG05 Ricegrowers’ Co-operative Limited Enterprise Training Package to the FDF Food Processing Training Package and develop new skills sets.

Projects are established only when a Case For Change has been approved by the Australian Industry Skills Committee (AISC), in line with the National Schedule. Following this approval, Skills Impact and the IRC take the Training Package Project through a process that adheres to the 2012 Standards for Training Package Development.

Download the case for change

Project Scope

The Government has determined that all enterprise Training Packages should be archived. Included in this process is the ZRG05 Ricegrowers’ Co-operative Limited Enterprise Training Package. This will have an adverse impact on the rice industry as access to nationally endorsed training will not be available.

The single rice processor in Australia is SunRice making them the key stakeholder. SunRice is a significant organisation in Australia comprising of 10 business entities employing 2,100 staff. In 2016 244,184 tonnes of rice were harvested contributing to a revenue of $1.3 billion.

To ensure the Training Package meets industry’s needs and expectations, the proposed components to be transferred to the FDF Food Processing Training Package will require significant review and development of skills sets.

The required work includes:

• 3 qualifications
• 20 units of competency
• 2 new skill sets

After extensive research and consultation with Subject Matter Experts from SunRice, the project team developed a proposed Certificate III in Rice Processing and 13 rice processing units of competency. Industry feedback indicated that the existing Certificate I and II in Food Processing in the FDF10 Food Processing Training Package meet the entry level requirements for rice processing skills and knowledge. Therefore, advice from industry was that the expired Certificates I and II in rice processing did not need to be redeveloped.

Consultation commenced in February 2017, a workforce functional analysis (WFA) was undertaken at SunRice Deniliquin plant with technical experts to identify the current work functions, work flows and job roles undertaken in the rice processing industry. The preliminary WFA was reviewed by Skills Impact and the SunRice team to group the skills and knowledge into draft units of competency and qualifications that reflected contemporary job roles.

Between April and June, a series of meetings were held with SunRice technical experts that included more WFA visits at two Rice Processing plants, which resulted in a draft qualification and units of competency. These materials have been reviewed again by the project team and are now ready for broader stakeholder consultation and validation. Skills Impact would like to thank SunRice for their contribution to this project.

Thank you to those who participated in the validation process for the final draft Certificate III in Rice Processing and 13 rice processing units of competency. The consultation period for this validation stage of the project is now closed.

The final drafts have been forwarded to the Food, Beverage and Pharmaceutical Industry Reference Committee (IRC) for sign off. After final quality assurance of the drafts, they will be submitted to the Australian Industry and Skills Committee (AISC) to consider and approve for publication on training.gov.au.

Validation means checking or proving that something is logically and factually accurate. Industry views were sought on whether the draft units and qualifications reflected the current occupational skill standards and needs of industry. The final draft units, skill sets and qualifications that were available for industry validation are listed below.

The Australian Industry and Skills Committee (AISC) has approved the Case for Endorsement for the updated and revised Certificate III in Rice Processing and 13 rice processing units of competency, along with a Companion Volume Implementation Guide.

The revised qualifications, skill sets and units will be released on to training.gov.au in early 2018, contained within the FBP Food Beverage and Pharmaceutical Training Package.

Once published on training.gov.au, they will be available for use by registered training organisations (RTOs).

The Companion Volume Implementation Guide contains key information to help registered training organisations (RTOs) implement the qualifications, skill sets and units, including the key work and training requirements in the industry; regulation and licensing implications for implementation; pathways advice; industry sectors and occupational outcomes of qualification; and advice on workplace health and safety implications.

Please find below copies of the documents that were endorsed by the AISC.