Horticultural Group Training Australia and the Mushroom Industry

Horticultural Group Training Australia and the Mushroom Industry

Horticultural Group Training Australia (HGTA) are from the New South Wales Central Coast. They are having great success with a project servicing the State’s mushroom farming industry among other enterprises from the eight streams of horticulture supported by this GTO. The Commonwealth Department of Education, Science and Training have contributed to this project through their Targeted Initiatives Program.

Australia’s annual mushroom crop is over 55,000 tonnes and growing at 6% per annum. There are around 40 growers in New South Wales producing over a third of this crop with many of them located in the Hawkesbury region north west of Sydney. Mushroom growing is acknowledged by many horticulturists and farmers as being quite different to growing other crops. As production is continuous there is no distinct seasonal demand for labour although additional staff are usually required for peak production times including picking.

One of HGTA’s trainees at Hillcrest Mushrooms, Oakville

Marketing of New Apprenticeships opportunities in the mushroom industry by HGTA has led to significant numbers of commencements under both group training arrangements and with individual employers. Active Industry Training Ltd (AIT), HGTA’s associated Registered Training Organisation, undertakes the formal training for these New Apprenticeships. There are around 87 Production Horticulture New Apprentices with HGTA under group training arrangements and a further 140 who are employed in varying numbers by 14 individual mushroom growing enterprises.

HGTA and AIT have made it clear to employers that they are committed to supporting training over the longer term. Pastoral care is a key factor in the successful progression of any training program and all New Apprentices are visited by a HGTA/AIT representative for training or monitoring purposes once a fortnight on average. These regular visits allow issues to be addressed without the ongoing disruption that can eventuate if concerns are not resolved in a timely manner.

The introduction of New Apprenticeships to this industry is providing valuable benefits to both employees and growers. Employees are benefiting through improved employment opportunities, greater self esteem and achievement of a nationally recognised qualification. Benefits to growers include improved labour efficiency, reduced turnover of staff and better compliance with occupational health and safety requirements. HGTA is also supporting employers by making available to them free of charge an Australian Workplace Agreement which they developed and registered for use within the mushroom industry.

Since late 2002 HGTA and AIT have also been offering a Rural Operations qualification which is drawn from the Horticulture and Civil Plant Operations training packages. There are currently 25 New Apprentices completing this qualification through AIT. Although it is early days for Rural Operations both HGTA and AIT see significant potential in the flexibility offered by this qualification to extend training to other establishments with links to the mushroom growers.

HGTA and AIT are to be congratulated on the excellent progress they have made in introducing structured training to the mushroom industry and for the ongoing support they are providing to growers and trainees.