Capability, Capacity and Culture Change

Published: 12 May 2022 Updated: 26 July 2024

Table of contents

Summary

Aquaculture, commercial and recreational fishing and indigenous stakeholders have identified an opportunity to build capability and resilience in increasingly complex environments, arising from a lack of access and pathways for people working or aspiring to work in fishing and aquaculture. The capability and capacity needed to manage the drivers of change and an understanding of how these changes affect access to employment and business structures in the future has not been fully realised.

Over the next 10 years, 41% of jobs in agriculture, forestry and fisheries will be transformed by technology. One in three new jobs created in these sectors will be tech-related, making digital and data literacy essential. People who can lead, solve problems, think differently and adapt are critical to the success of fishing and aquaculture industries.

FRDC’s Capability and Capacity plan, including the C&C Steering Committee (C&C SC) has been established to guide FRDC’s capability and capacity initiatives and address key opportunities in FRDC’s 2020-2025 R&D (Research & Development) Plan.

Strategy IV of FRDC’s 2020-2025 R&D Plan is to ‘Build capability and capacity’.

Capability and Capacity Objectives

Objective 1: Attract, retain and up-skill the fishing and aquaculture workforce Objective 2: Connect and collaborate to increase access and awareness of diversity, includsion and wellbeing for fishing and aquaculture Objective 3: Grow and nurture diverse people to navigate the future of fishing and aquaculture

Key Capability and Capacity Investments

Establish an accurate baseline of who is working in fishing and aquaculture and understanding the diversity of our workforce (2022-034), by assessing and challenging the current methods of collecting data
Partner with Seafood Industry Australia to build Seafood Careers, an interactive online platform showcasing roles and opportunities across fishing and aquaculture, including tools to explore pathways and training (2022-183 and 2022-194)
Work with Women in Seafood Australasia on Turn the Tide, which is looking to increase the capacity and capabilities of all women and help change the perceptions and culture within fishing and aquaculture. Turn The Tide aims to make workplaces more attractive and encourage diversity, inclusion and wellbeing.
Work with River & Sea to develop the Recreational Fishing Fundamentals & Vocational development course (2022-033), enabling women across Australia to access resources and networks to commence and continue their recreational fishing journey
Continue to invest in National Seafood Industry Leadership Program (NSILP) (2022-187), Australian Rural Leadership Program (2022-192) and Nuffield (2016-407) opportunities to grow and nurture the emerging and existing leaders of fishing and aquaculture
Collaborate with Primary Industries Education Foundation Australia (PIEFA) (2022-073) to conduct research and understand current levels of engagement, barriers, and opportunities to position fishing and aquaculture within primary and secondary schools. PIEFA provides a mechanism to showcase fishing and aquaculture and food and fibre more broadly in Australian schools.