Jackaroo and Jillaroo training
Here at TAFE Western, each semester we run an outstanding training program to help aspiring Jackaroo's and Jillaroo's move into the rural industry. The intensive training course runs for eight weeks and provides the basic and essential skills for people to get started in a rural career - irrespective of their age, gender or background.
Through extensive industry consultation and hands on experience TAFE Western teachers have developed the program to give future Jackaroo's and Jillaroo's the best grounding before setting out for their first job. Major station owners are now depending on TAFE Western to provide them with future employees.
Students who complete Certificate II in Agriculture for Jackaroo's and Jillaroo's can go on, as trainees, to attain Certificate III and IV qualifications as part of their new job. The majority of students are young, between 16 and 25 and they come from the city as well as the bush. Sometimes they are semi-retired folk setting out for a new rural lifestyle.
The course is very "hands-on" with plenty of exposure, during the eight weeks, to livestock, machinery and farm maintenance work. First Aid, Chemical Handling and Occupational Health and Safety are included in the in the program so farm businesses are keen to employ graduates of the Jackaroo and Jillaroo course. It takes away a lot of the anxiety and guesswork for employers in a complex farm environment.
We introduce students to the essentials of horse and motor bike riding, driving tractors, four wheel driving and chainsaw operation. It may sound like a great outdoor adventure, but this is a serious program for the agricultural industry - one they could not operate without.
The course is based at TAFE Western's Rural Skills and Environment Centre in Dubbo where students (who come from all over Australia) are able to find inexpensive accommodation for the duration of the course. A number of local training facilities are used as well as different farms to provide access to the range of experiences covered during the eight weeks.
The training is personalised, there are never more than 12 participants at a time and during the course between 8 and 10 teachers will be involved. Each student's progress is monitored to ensure safety and to provide extra attention when it's needed. This is why the course is suitable for students who have no previous experience with farms or the bush.
TAFE Western's mission is to see students go on to fulfilling jobs, that means happy employers and employees and the opportunity to study for higher qualifications.
For further information call the Dubbo Rural Skills & Environment Centre on 1300 666 292.
