AWI and SCAA sign memorandum of understanding with New Zealand shearing training body amid worker shortage

The country’s peak wool industry body and biggest shearing and wool handling training organisation are set to work together with a New Zealand counterpart amid a global worker shortage. Australian Wool Innovation and the Shearing Contractors Association of Australia’s Shearer and Wool Handler Training arm have signed a memorandum of understanding with Elite Wool Industry Training NZ as part of a move to increase cooperation between both countries’ shearing industries. The agreement has been motivated by an international shearer and skilled woolhandler shortage, which AWI says has seen the price of shearing increase by 20 per cent. It is also motivated by self-interest on the New Zealand side, with farmers across the Tasman having to compete for shearers with those in the northern hemisphere. SCAA Shearer Wool Handler Training chief executive Glenn Haynes said the parties were realistic about the impact the MOU would have. “The agreement is not a silver bullet for the issue of skills shortages but it will provide a platform that can align the approach to solving, or at least mitigating, some of the training issues that both nations are experiencing at the moment,” he said. “This agreement will allow for the training organisations to work together on shearing and wool handler training consistencies, across the Tasman.” Elite Wool Industry Training chief executive Tom Wilson said he was looking forward to aligning and coordinating training between the two countries. “In the past New Zealand and Australia have worked closely to manage a trained workforce on both sides of the Tasman,” he said. “It is great to have the opportunity to provide a strong level of support to the industry again - we expect this to develop strong opportunities for young people to get into this great industry both here in New Zealand and in Australia.” Some of the potential benefits outlined by the three organisations include ensuring young New Zealand shearers know shearing patterns and techniques which align with Australian market requirements, and ensuring young Australian shearers and woolhandlers have a better understanding of New Zealand Crossbred shearing techniques. AWI shearer training head Craig French said there were other additional benefits. “The shearer and wool handler shortage is an international problem and therefore we need to take a broader approach to addressing it,” he said. “Over the next three years, Australian wool growers will invest more than $10 million into shearer and wool handler training. “We are best to have an agreement with our Trans-Tasman counterparts, to ensure this investment is not one-sided and in sync with what is happening in New Zealand.” SCAA secretary Jason Letchford said the MOU would enable the transition of learner shearers and wool handlers across the Tasman. “This will help to accommodate the seasonal cycles and better ensure consistency of work for new entrants to the industry, an issue that has been the Achilles Heel for learner shearers in the past,” he said. The shearer shortage was top of mind when the WA Shearing Industry Association held its annual general meeting in June, with WASIA president Darren Spencer noting the industry’s current focus was on attracting, training and retaining workers by improving shed safety and working conditions.