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The
RGR Racing and Breeding Training Package has undergone significant reviews and updates over the past three years. The Racing and Breeding IRC is now focused on training implementation to ensure the maximum uptake of training. This project will address two key solutions to simplify training delivery and participation in the industry.
Solution 1: Alterations to Packaging Rules and Application Statement in the Certificate II in Racing IndustryThe current Certificate II in Racing Industry supports the skills development of new entrants to the racing industry. It exists to support the core skills required for beginning a career in the racing industry and outlines five core competencies. However, the core competencies need to be altered to better support the inclusion of the Greyhound racing sector. The IRC propose to move the unit ACMEQU205 Apply knowledge of horse behaviour from the core list of units to the elective list. On completion of the core competencies, learners can then, if they wish, specialise in stablehand, stud hand (breeding), track maintenance and racing administration by completing a selection of elective units of competency or complete a general qualification.
In 2019, Skills Impact surveyed 546 people working in the horse care industry to understand skill needs and gaps and how national qualifications and skills standards could be improved to support these. A key finding was that there is a shortage of skilled, competent and qualified track riders.
Read the report here. The IRC has requested the removal of two units of competency from the BSB Business Services Training Package as core units from the qualification. This will simplify delivery of the qualification while retaining all of the job role requirements. Feedback from RTOs is that learners are finding it difficult to complete the two BSB units because they include significant learning content that is not necessary for the context of the intended job roles. The change is supported by industry regulators and participants, with feedback indicating that these units do not provide skills needed for the job role of a jockey.These two solutions were identified in the Racing and Breeding IRC
Annual Update to the Skills Forecast and Proposed Schedule of Work and approved by the Australian Industry Skills Committee (AISC).The Racing and Breeding IRC will oversee this project as part of their responsibility to support engagement with the sector, and to ensure the project meets industry stakeholder needs.Skills Impact will manage this project, consistent with the
2012 Standards for Training Package Development.
Download Project Proposal (see pages 25-32)
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Australia’s racing industry contributes significantly to national economic growth and jobs. It is one of Australia’s oldest industries and employs thousands of people. A career in the racing industry offers many exciting opportunities, but there are some key skills that every new entrant must learn to support animal welfare and sporting integrity. This project will review two qualifications for the racing industry: the first to broaden career pathways and support the skills for those beginning their career; and the second for jockeys who require the highest level of riding skills to race thoroughbred horses.Those entering the racing industry must develop the necessary skills to comply with racing industry rules and ethics, as well as the skills needed to perform their roles to the high standards required of professional sport. They need to understand animal behaviour and welfare and how to work with racing horses and greyhounds, as well as the skills to work in a manner that is healthy and safe towards themselves and others. The national qualification to support learners entering the racing industry is the
Certificate II in Racing Industry. The qualification will be updated to broaden career pathways and reflect skills required across all codes (thoroughbred, harness and greyhound).
Jockeys are elite athletes and need to have the highest level of riding skills, including the ability to react quickly during a race, make decisions and exercise judgement when choosing mounts and assessing horse form. The national qualification to support the job role of jockeys is the
Certificate IV in Racing (Jockey). Currently the qualification includes advanced level business skills as core units that are creating issues with training delivery and learner completion. Feedback from implementation of the qualification indicates that these units are difficult to deliver, and difficult for learners to complete. These business skills do not affect the occupational outcomes and roles of jockeys. As a result, the need for inclusion of these units will be reviewed.
Project Scope
This project will review and improve the
Certificate II in Racing Industry to broaden further the potential career pathways to include greyhound racing and improve training delivery. The
Certificate IV in Racing (Jockey) will be reviewed so that it is easier for training providers to deliver and for learners to complete the qualification without affecting the occupational outcome. Improving the deliverability of these qualifications could encourage more training providers to put them on scope, thereby offering industry more training options to support their objective of encouraging career entrants into the industry and fostering good practice and animal care.The Racing and Breeding Industry Reference Committee (IRC) has recommended changing the packaging rules of the
Certificate II in Racing Industry to allow participants in the greyhound industry, specifically in roles relating to track maintenance and administration, to utilise the qualification. The IRC has also recommended removing two units from the BSB Business Services Training Package from the
Certificate IV in Racing (Jockey) because they include significant learning content that is not necessary for the context of the intended job roles.
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Relevant Occupations
- Jockey
- Stablehand
- Barrier Attendants
- Stud Hand
- Greyhound trainers
- Track staff
- Kennel staff
- Lure drivers
- Catchers
- Racing administration staff
Timeline
December 2020
Initial scopingFebruary 2021 Development of draft qualifications and skills standardsFebruary 2021 Drafts available for broad consultationMarch 2021 Validation of final draftsMarch 2021 Finalisation of Training Package componentsApril 2021 Independent Quality Assurance, and Edit and Equity review of Training Package componentsApril/May 2021IRC consideration for sign-off and submission for endorsementProject Team
| Cathy Beven | Industry Skills Standards Manager/Specialist and Developer, Skills Impact | [email protected] |
| Geoff Barbaro | Executive Manager, Industry Engagement, Skills Impact | [email protected] |
Opportunities for stakeholder input
Stakeholder input is appreciated throughout the duration of this project. The documents will be drafted in consultation with the Industry Reference Committee and their networks including Principal Racing Authorities. Opportunities to provide targeted feedback will occur when the draft materials are made available in January/February 2021, and again for validation of final drafts in late February 2021.Your feedback is welcomed at any time and will help us in drafting the qualifications. It is important that training provides a skilled and flexible workforce for the future. The qualifications need to reflect real work experience. So, if you work in the sector, Skills Impact would love your input and help.Please feel free to register your interest in project updates and consultation opportunities by following the newsletter subscription link below. Alternatively, please feel free to contact the project manager, Cathy Beven at
[email protected].
Stakeholder Consultation Process
A list of key stakeholder organisations has been identified for this project. Skills Impact will ensure contact is made with each of these organisations during the development of this project to seek their involvement and their views on the draft qualifications.If you are aware of an organisation that you think should be involved, please contact the project team to ensure they are contacted by us.
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The racing industry is one of Australia’s oldest industries and employs thousands of people, making a significant contribution to national economic growth and jobs. For those pursuing a career in racing there are some key skills to be learnt to support animal welfare and sporting integrity. New entrants must develop skills to comply with racing industry rules and ethics, as well as to perform their roles to the high standards required of professional sport. They need to understand animal behaviour and welfare and how to work with racing horses and greyhounds, as well as the skills to work in a manner that is healthy and safe towards themselves and others.For those in high level roles, such as jockeys, there are expert skills to build on and finesse. Jockeys are elite athletes and need to have the highest level of riding skills, including the ability to react quickly during a race, make decisions and exercise judgement when choosing mounts and assessing horse form.Consultation will take place throughout this project to review two qualifications for the racing industry. The Certificate II in Racing Industry will be reviewed and updated to broaden career pathways and support the skills for those beginning their career across all codes (thoroughbred, harness and greyhound). The Certificate IV in Racing (Jockey) will also be revised to capture the high level skills required of jockeys. Consideration will be given to advanced level business units currently included as core in the qualification and issues they are causing with training delivery and learner completion.
Both qualifications have been reviewed and revised following a meeting of Subject Matter Experts. There have been several changes proposed including to the core units of competency and the electives for both qualifications.Major changes to entry requirements and packaging rules in the
Certificate IV in Racing (Jockey) have been proposed, which require further consultation and advice from experts, including Quality Assurance panel members and State Training Authorities.
Development outcomes and next steps
Broad stakeholder consultation is scheduled to commence late February 2021, when draft units will be made available for comment on this webpage. Your input on all proposed changes is welcome, please feel free to register your interest to keep informed of project updates and when draft materials are available for feedback.
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Australia’s racing industry employs thousands of people, contributing significantly to national economic growth and jobs. There are various opportunities for those pursuing a career in the racing industry and there are key skills that every new entrant must learn to support animal welfare and sporting integrity. At a higher level, those in the racing industry require expert skills in their chosen area. For jockeys this means they need to possess the highest level of riding skills, including the ability to react quickly during a race, make decisions and exercise judgement when choosing mounts and assessing horse form. It is important that the national qualifications for both of these groups of learners are kept up to date so that the necessary skills are supported.As part of this project, the
Certificate II in Racing Industry is being reviewed and updated to also include the unique skills required in greyhound racing. It is being revised to broaden career pathways and reflect skills required across all codes (thoroughbred, harness and greyhound).
The
Certificate IV in Racing (Jockey) is also being reviewed to support high level racing skills and clarify entry requirements. The advanced level business skills included as core units in the qualification are difficult to deliver and for learners to complete. As these business skills do not affect the occupational outcomes and roles of jockeys, the need for inclusion of these units is being considered.Subject matter experts, including Industry Reference Committee members and Principal Racing Authorities have been engaged to review and revise the qualifications.
Thank you to everyone who provided feedback on the draft qualifications that were made available on this webpage from 19 February - 11 March 2021. You can still view the documents and any comments made below.The qualifications were reviewed and updated to incorporate skills to address potential ambiguity in the Entry Requirements for the Certificate IV in Racing (Jockey) and to specify that Jockeys are required to maintain a safe and healthy weight in order to participate in this sport. Business units have been removed from the core of the qualification to aid in delivery.The Certificate II in Racing was reviewed to incorporate units from the greyhound racing sector and remove horse racing specific core units (which have been retained as electives).Feedback was sought on whether the draft qualifications reflect current skills standards and practices of industry and whether job functions are accurately described.Feedback will inform further work on the drafts, which are expected to available for industry validation later in March 2021.
Qualifications
| Qualification code and name | Proposed changes or rationale | Link |
| RGR202XX Certificate II in Racing Industry | Removed ACMEQU205 Apply knowledge of horse behaviour from Core Units. Reduced to four core and 10 electives. Included Kennel Hand in Qualification Description. | View draft qualification |
| RGR402XX Certificate IV in Racing (Jockey) | Removed business (BSB) units from Core Units. Number of core units reduced to 9. Number of Elective Units increased to 8 Entry Requirements revised to include reference to safely maintaining a healthy weight. | View draft qualification |
The draft documents can be downloaded in Microsoft Word format by
clicking here.
Summary of Consultation to Date
The draft qualifications have been drafted in consultation with Subject Matter Experts. People working directly in the greyhound and horse racing industries participated and provided information on the skills and knowledge required for job roles and tasks. Thank you to those who provided feedback during these activities.
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A career in Australia’s racing industry presents a range of opportunities and pathways to choose from. It is one of Australia’s oldest industries and employ thousands of people, contributing significantly to national economic growth.This project is looking at the skills standards for entry level careers in the racing industry (supported by the
Certificate II in Racing Industry) and the skills standards for jockeys (supported by the
Certificate IV in Racing [Jockey]).Consultation is taking place throughout this project to review these two qualifications, so that they meet the skills needs of these job roles.The qualifications are needed for those starting out their career, as there are some key skills they need to develop to support animal welfare and sporting integrity as well as needing to comply with racing industry rules and ethics. Safety and welfare skills are critical, so that new entrants can work in ways that are healthy and safe towards themselves and others. Jockeys need to make informed decisions and judgements about mounts and their form, as well as the ability to react quickly and appropriating in the context of racing.
The draft documents were available on this webpage for validation and feedback from 24 March – 26 April 2021.The Certificate II in Racing Industry was revised so that it applies to skills required across all codes, including thoroughbred, harness and greyhound. It includes skills for understanding animal behaviour and welfare, and working in a manner that is healthy and safe.The Certificate IV in Racing (Jockey) was reviewed to reflect the expertise required to race thoroughbred horses. Industry feedback has so far supported the removal of advanced level business skills as core units, as they do not reflect the job role and are causing barriers to delivery and completion of the qualification.
The final drafts will shortly progress through to the Finalisation stage of the project which includes quality assurance of the documents and review and feedback from the State/Territory Training Authorities. They will then be forwarded to the Racing and Breeding Industry Reference Committee (IRC) for consideration and sign off, before being submitted to the Australian Industry and Skills Committee (AISC) to consider and approve for publication on training.gov.au. Summary of Consultation to Date
Thank you to those stakeholders who provided feedback on the drafts that were made available from 19 February – 11 March 2021, under the ‘Drafts Available’ stage. During this time, feedback was collected via the online feedback hub, webinars, and via email. The units were drafted with guidance from Subject Matter Experts, made up of workplace experts and industry.A description of how feedback has been considered and applied in these final drafts can be downloaded below. Please click the ‘Download Summary of Feedback, Responses and Actions’ button.
Qualifications
| Qualification code and name | Proposed changes or rationale | Link |
| RGR202XX Certificate II in Racing Industry | Removed ACMEQU205 Apply knowledge of horse behaviour from Core Units. Reduced to four core and 10 electives. Included Kennel Hand in Qualification Description. | View final draft qualification |
| RGR402XX Certificate IV in Racing (Jockey) | Removed BSB units from Core Units. Number of core units reduced to 9. Number of Elective Units increased to 8.Entry Requirements revised to include medical clearance requirements and completion of a RGR30518 Certificate III in Racing (Trackwork) or relevant experience.Qualification Description updated to include reference to apprentice jockey program requirements. | View final draft qualification |
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Subscribe to the Skills Impact newsletter to keep informed about project updates and opportunities to provide input and feedback. Make sure to select ‘Racing’ as your industry of interest. |
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The racing industry is one of Australia’s oldest industries, contributing significantly to national economic growth and employing thousands of people. New entrants have a range of opportunities and pathways to choose from, all of which require foundation skills in animal welfare and sporting integrity. These skills are developed further by those in higher level roles, such as jockeys, who must develop unique expertise to keep themselves and their mounts safe and healthy. Thanks to the contributions of everyone involved in this project, the skills required for both of these distinct groups of learners (those starting a career and jockeys) have been captured in national qualifications. The qualifications were published on the national training register (
training.gov.au) within the RGR Racing and Breeding Training Package on 3 September 2021.The
Certificate II in Racing Industry has been updated to better reflect the skills requirements of entry level careers in the racing industry across all codes, including thoroughbred, harness and greyhound. The core unit
ACMEQU205 Apply knowledge of horse behaviour was removed and included as a mandatory unit in the Stable Hand and Stud Hand specialisations, so as not to present a barrier to those wishing to pursue a career in greyhound racing. Two greyhound units are also included as electives. These changes are considered to be minor and the qualification is equivalent.
The
Certificate IV in Racing (Jockey) has been revised to reflect the expertise required to race thoroughbred horses. Two advanced level business units have been removed from the core of the qualification, as they were creating a barrier to training delivery and industry feedback indicated that they do not reflect the job role. This was also discussed with registered training organisations (RTOs), learners and relevant Principle Racing Authorities. The two units have now been superseded and the updated units included as electives. All prerequisite units relevant to the existing core units have also been included as core units. As a result of this, the number of required core units has been increased to 14 while the elective units have been decreased to three. All other units have been checked for currency and updated or removed where necessary. A statement has been included in the Companion Volume User Guide with a strong recommendation to RTOs to consider the personal health and fitness of learners as it applies to riding racehorses, at the weight specified according to the Australian Rules of Racing, and to ensure a person has a relevant medical clearance to become a jockey. These changes are considered to be minor and the qualification is equivalent.Industry can now be confident of two strengthened qualifications especially with regard to the health and safety of riders and horses. The Certificate II qualification also broadens the scope of people able to learn the skills and knowledge required to commence careers in the racing industry.
Summary of Consultation
The qualifications were developed with guidance from a group of Subject Matter Experts (SMEs), with expertise in entry level racing careers and jockeying. Stakeholders have included representatives from state racing associations, jockey associations and Industry Reference Committee members.The broader industry were then consulted on the draft documents at two different stages – the ‘Drafts Available’ and ‘Validation’ stages.A description of how feedback has been considered and applied at each of these stages can be downloaded below.
The qualifications were endorsed by the Australian Industry and Skills Committee (
read the communique) and State and Territory Ministers after undergoing an edit and equity and independent quality assurance process and consideration by the State/Territory Training Authorities (STAs/TTAs). A Case for Endorsement was submitted alongside the draft qualifications, including a rationale of why these changes are needed and evidence of industry support.Please find below links to the final documents that are published on the national training register.
Click here to download the Case for Endorsement
Companion Volume Implementation GuideA Companion Volume Implementation Guide has also been produced to assist industry and registered training providers (RTOs) deliver the qualifications. It contains key information to help trainers adapt to the new changes, and additional information about the impacts of regulation and licensing implications and workplace health and safety on their training.
Click here to download the Companion Volume Implementation Guide Part 1
Qualifications
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