Agricultural Education ‘Rebooted’ in Australia

Abstract

Agricultural education in Australia was in the doldrums for several decades in the latter part of the 20th Century and more recently. Some of this can be attributed to poor industry leadership, particularly in relation to recognition of the value of education and training in the sector. Consequently, agriculture lost community respect and was not seen by the emerging generation as the industry sector of choice for careers. For most of this Century there has been a concerted effort to change the public perception of the sector and the causal dynamics involved and it is pleasing to report that agriculture has been ‘rebooted’ to a positive paradigm with an encouraging outlook. The circumstances for the fall and rise of agriculture comprise the basis for this paper.