Australia’s food and beverage processing sector has been developing its skills over the past decade, as it adapts to the interests of consumers. With the public increasingly seeking local, sustainable, healthy and allergen free food, industry has been innovating in areas such as traceability and packaging, causing work environments across the industry to become increasingly automated and sophisticated. Industry representatives have volunteered their time and expertise to three national projects to update vocational qualifications, skill sets and units of competency, so that future learners are equipped with the skills they need to produce high quality food and beverages.
Thanks to the efforts of everyone involved, the updated qualifications, skill sets and units are now published on the national training register training.gov.au. They have been endorsed by the Australian Industry and Skills Committee and State and Territory Ministers and are available for use by registered training organisations for industry. The qualifications, skill sets and units were developed as part of the Food and Beverage Processing, Flour Milling and High Volume Production Baking projects, which were managed by Skills Impact and overseen by the Food, Beverage and Pharmaceutical Industry Reference Committee.
The Certificate I, II and III in Food Processing have been redesigned to incorporate skills to utilise new and emerging food processing technology and systems, address issues around allergens and traceability, work using good manufacturing practice and uphold the Food Standards Code. Specialisations have been added to the Certificate III in Food Processing to support more flexible career pathways for learners.
Specialisations include:
- Brewing
- Bottling and packaging
- Confectionery
- Dairy processing (cheese, powder and/or milk)
- Distilling
- Edible oils (refining or cold pressing edible oils)
- Milling
- Flour milling
- Non-alcoholic beverages (fruit juice, cordial)
- Pet food (companion animals)
- Quality (for operator roles)
- Sales
- Stock feed (cattle, horses, sheep, pigs, poultry, fish – animals that produce for human consumption).
The Certificate III in Plant Baking has been revised to become the Certificate III in High Volume Baking, including the skills to work across all four sub sectors (pastry, cakes, biscuits and bread), allowing for flexibility and movement within the industry.