CALD Project 1 – Accelerating the Engagement of CALD Workforce into Victorian Agricultural Communities Project
People from Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) backgrounds make up at least 11 per cent of the agricultural workforce – offering a diverse experience that can fill skills gaps and strengthen the industry.
Gardiner Foundation, with support from Agricultural Victoria, has launched the Accelerating the Engagement of CALD Workforce into Victorian Agricultural Communities Project to increase CALD involvement in agricultural.
The project aims to help people from diverse backgrounds enter and stay in agricultural jobs.
The main objectives are to reduce barriers for CALD individuals, enhance industry cultural awareness and skills, build strong stakeholder relationships and develop a model for engaging CALD communities that can be replicated in other regions.
The project will run from July 2024 to June 2027 and build on previous work by Agriculture Victoria which includes:
- Developing a guide to implement an ongoing CALD workforce, based on a framework that encapsulates success factors, for a place-based approach
- Initiate CALD worker and industry projects in two regional areas of Goulburn Murray and the Leongatha-Maffra-Newry (MID) region using the guide, drawing on previous and existing services and building on key stakeholder relationships
- Implement activities that support the successful delivery of a CALD workforce identified through place-based project steering committees
- Deliver industry training to improve workplace cultural awareness
- Deliver industry training to improve workplace safety for CALD workers.
- Refine guidelines based on pilot outcomes for wider sharing
To learn more about this project read Investing in farm safety and diversity in Agriculture
CALD Project 2 – Enhancing Employment & Engagement Experiences of CALD Dairy Workers Project
The Enhancing Employment & Engagement Experiences of CALD Dairy Workers Project aims to improve how dairy farm businesses engage and support CALD workers, ensuring they provide a safe and rewarding experience for employees. The project is funded by Gardiner Foundation and being delivered, in partnership, with Dairy Australia, Murray Dairy, WestVic Dairy and GippsDairy over three years from July 2024 to June 2027.
The project will build on Dairy Australia’s existing People Management 1:1 program, using a similar model to the popular Our Farm, Our Plan model. The project will create and integrate CALD-specific content into the program, train up to 120 dairy farm businesses in best practices for working with CALD workers and ultimately aim to attract CALD employees and improve their retention rate within the dairy industry.
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