Food and Beverage Processing Skills Updated to Match the Tastes of Consumers

Our Role Establishing Skills Insight JSC

Skills Impact held a Skills Service Organisation (SSO) role between 2016 and 2022. In 2023 we established one of ten Job and Skills Councils (JSCs), after a submission to move into the role was backed by over 200 letters of support from a broad range of industry stakeholders. This new JSC, Skills Insight, has a broader scope to deliver outcomes that support a responsive VET system and a skilled and resilient national workforce. The industry coverage of Skills Insight is similar to our past coverage as a Skills Service Organisation.

As consumers have become more interested in the origins, contents and packaging of their food, industry has adapted its skills and work environments to become increasingly automated and sophisticated. Thanks to everyone who contributed to the projects below, qualifications and skills standards have been updated to support future learners with the skills they need to produce high quality food and beverages.

The updated qualifications, skill sets and units have now been endorsed by the Australian Industry and Skills Committee and State and Territory Ministers. They are published on the national training register (training.gov.au) and are available for use by registered training organisations.

Food & Beverage Processing Project

Growing consumer interest in the origins, contents, preparation and packaging of food and beverages has inspired innovation in the food and beverage processing sector.

A broad range of industry stakeholder have contributed to this project to update the qualifications and skills standards used for training in food and beverage processing, so that they reflect updated skills needs for a range of job roles.

For more information visit the project page.

Flour Milling Project

Continued demand for flour, oats, maize and other milled products, combined with growing interest in alternate grains has seen the flour milling industry adopting more sophisticated automated systems and processes.

The current skills needs for this sector have been captured in a flour milling specialisation in the Certificate III in Food Processing, reflecting the technical expertise required of this work and supporting flexible career pathways.

For more information, visit the project page.

High Volume Production Baking Project

With an increasingly digitalised and automated work environment, the high volume baking sector requires updated skills to continue to produce wholesome and delicious baked goods.

The Certificate III in High Volume Baking has been renamed and revised, incorporating the updated skills required across all four sub-sectors of plant baking (pastry, cakes, biscuits and bread) and reflecting current industry practices and terminology.

For more information, visit the project page.

A Note for RTOs

A related project was also undertaken to update old FDF-coded units that were still contained in some qualifications. These have also been published on the national register (training.gov.au) within the FBP Food, Beverage and Pharmaceutical Training Package.