Digital Skills

A framework and training handbook have been developed to guide future investment into developing digital skills for Australian agricultural industries.

Australia’s agricultural industry, via the National Farmers Federation, has a vision to ​increase the value of farm output to $100 billion by 2030, a significant increase on today’s $62 billion. ​Improving the digital ​capability of the industry is an important ​enabler to achieving this target. Digital skills will support the workforce to better adapt to technology, seize the opportunities and innovations digital processes offer, and to remain competitive globally. In 2019, Australia’s rural research and development corporations (RDCs) invested in the development of three national frameworks for digital innovation in agriculture. More information about the two other national frameworks for digital innovation in agriculture is available on the Cotton Research and Development Corporation’s (CRDC) website. Read more.

KPMG partnered with Skills Impact, Faethm and The University of Queensland to produce the Agricultural Workforce Digital Capability Framework. Skills Impact were able to use the industry intelligence gathered from our work with Industry Reference Committees, industry experts and trainers, and research bodies to help identify skills gaps, emerging trends and industry needs in a vocational context.

The Agricultural Workforce Digital Capability Framework provides industry with practical guidance for future work needs and up-skilling opportunities by mapping the digital capabilities of the agricultural workforce required to be able to adapt in a rapidly changing technological environment. You can read the full report here – Agricultural workforce digital capability framework – report.

To help deliver against the framework two further documents have been developed:

The additional publication Agricultural workforce digital capability framework – Self-assessment approach explains the methodology behind the self-assessment tool.

Digital Capability Project Launch at Parliament House. Pictured left to right: Mike Ridout from Food Agility CRC, Bronwyn Harch from the University of Queensland, Alison Carmichael from Skills Impact, Jane Trindall from the Cotton Research and Development Corporation and Ben van Delden from KPMG.