For a list of WAPITEC's Objectives, click here.

WAPITEC was formed in 1996 to address the shortage of skilled staff in the WA pork industry. The industry is currently in a position to undergo significant expansion, however the lack of skilled staff has been identified as a potential impediment.

WAPITEC is funded by the pork industry through the Growers Committee of the Agricultural Produce Commission and reports to the Executive of the WA Pork Producers Association (WAPPA) on a quarterly basis.

Early in 2002, a Training Officer was appointed to concentrate on developing and facilitating training courses to meet the industry's needs.

WAPITEC has played an integral role in the development and operation of the WA Pig Skills Centre in Northam. The centre is a state of the art pig production facility established to provide training opportunities for members of the industry, particularly the WA College of Agriculture.

Identifying Training Needs

A necessary process in addressing skill shortage is identifying producers' needs in terms of training and development for themselves and their staff. This is where the Training Officer becomes important in liaising with industry to determine those needs and establish a training schedule to meet them.

To begin to understand training requirements of the pork industry, a survey was sent to producers during June 2002 asking them to indicate the importance they place on training, the impediments to participating in training, potential topics for courses etc.

An overview of the survey results will be posted here when available. If you haven't already contributed to the survey, please feel free to download a copy and email your responses to the Training Officer at emalyn@wapitc.org

Download Producer Training Survey here.

Results of the Producer Training Survey will help to identify priorities for future training program development.

Funding for Training

Although extremely valuable, training courses can be expensive. There are funding sources for training and these should be utilised where possible.

There are government incentives available for employers who put their employees through entry level training under the Traineeships program. Traineeships are available for both Certificate 2 and 3 Agriculture (Pig Production).

At the moment, and for a limited period of time, there is an opportunity in WA for existing workers to be eligible for Traineeships in the same way as new employees.

There are criteria which need to be met in order to be eligible for a Traineeship. A New Apprenticeship Centre (NAC) is able to determine your eligibility. To discuss Traineeships further, contact the Training Officer.

Traineeships largely involve on-the-job training as well as some form of off-the-job training. Trainees undertaking the Certificate 3 Agriculture (Pig Production) at CY O'Connor College of TAFE have the opportunity to participate in the Level 3 Stockperson Training Course as an optional (though highly recommended) off-the-job component.

Approved training at Level 4 and above (management oriented) can be subsidised by Farmbis (50% as of June 2002).

WAPITEC Committee

The WAPITEC committee is chaired by Dr Bruce Mullan, Senior Research Officer with the WA Department of Agriculture. Bruce has a long association with the pork industry, particularly in the area of nutrition. He is also very aware of the industry's training issues and assists with the delivery of the Stockperson Training Course.

• Other members of the committee include:
• Liam Flanagan, General Manager, Great Southern Pig Company
• Neil Ferguson, General Manager, Westpork
• Kim Derbyshire, Farm Supervisor, WA College of Agriculture - Narrogin
• Dr Martin Bent, Senior Lecturer, Muresk Institute of Agriculture
• Dr Chris Brennan, Director, Agripork Australia; Director, Portec Australia
• Kareena May, Executive Officer, WA Primary Industries Training Council
• Lea Newing, Executive Officer, WA Pork Producers Association