Media Release - Agriculture a key regional Australian employer

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Agriculture a key regional Australian employer

11 August 2004

Rural industries are the third largest employer in regional Australia, with 10 percent of the workforce, as detailed in a new Rural Industries Research & Development Corporation (RIRDC) report launched today by Parliamentary Secretary for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Senator Judith Troeth.

Speaking at the launch of the new publication, the Social profile of people employed in the Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing industries, Senator Troeth said more than 330,000 Australians were employed in AFF industries in 2001, which is a four per cent share of Australia’s total workforce, which makes it the eleventh largest national employer.

The only sectors to employ more people in regional Australia than the Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing sectors was retail (15.2%) and manufacturing (10.6%).

“This report provides a firm basis for understanding the contribution of agriculture-related industries to the social structure of communities all across Australia”, Senator Troeth said.

“This sector plays an important role in creating wealth and prosperity for the nation and particularly within rural and regional communities and this important information will enhance the Government’s understanding of rural Australia and its industries.”

The report was produced by the Bureau of Rural Sciences (BRS) and funded by the Rural Industries R&D Corporation. This publication compliments the successful BRS publication Country Matters – Social Atlas of Rural and Regional Australia, providing specific information on employment, demography, labour force, education, income and information technology use.

The report uses Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) 1996 and 2001 Censuses data. The diversity of people employed in the AFF sector is compared across five regions defined as Metropolitan, Regional city, Populated coastal, Populated inland and Remote (Non-Metropolitan Australia).

Key findings in the report include:

there was an increase of 2% in the total number of persons employed in the AFF industries across Australia between 1996 (324,068) and 2001 (330,510).
there have been increases in the proportion of persons employed in the AFF industries with a bachelor or higher educational qualification, and decreases in the proportion of people without post-school qualifications between 1996 and 2001.
the number of Indigenous people employed in the AFF industries rose by 24.7 per cent (824 people) between 1996 and 2001.
in 2001, (38%) of those people employed in the AFF industries in non-metropolitan Australia used a personal computer compared with 41.3% in metropolitan Australia.

Download a free copy of this report at www.rirdc.gov.au or purchase a hard copy at www.rirdc.gov.au/eshop
ENDS
Media inquiries
Senator Troeth – Allison Murphy 0408 917 639
RIRDC Martin Field (02) 6272 4735 or 0418 430 760

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