Livestock Transport Training

About the project

Project overview

Livestock transport is a critical component of Australia’s road freight industry, with more than 14.9 million tonnes of livestock moved across the country each year. Throughout the production cycle, individual animals may be transported multiple times, making safe, compliant, and efficient transport essential to both animal welfare and supply chain productivity.

Delivering livestock safely requires specialised knowledge and skills. Drivers must understand animal welfare obligations, livestock handling practices, biosecurity requirements, and heavy vehicle operating requirements. Recognising the need for nationally consistent training, the Australian Livestock and Rural Transporters Association (ALRTA) engaged Industry Skills Australia (ISA) to support the development of a dedicated Livestock Transport Driver Skill Set.

The need for improved livestock transport training has also been highlighted by Jobs and Skills Australia, which identified opportunities to strengthen the delivery and uptake of formal training across the food supply chain workforce.

Currently, training relevant to livestock transport is dispersed across multiple training packages, including Agriculture (AHC), Meat Processing (AMP), and Transport and Logistics (TLI). Combined with a shortage of qualified trainers, this fragmentation limits access to essential training across the industry.

To address these challenges, ISA has worked with a Technical Committee of industry subject matter experts to develop a Livestock Transport Driver Skill Set that establishes a nationally recognised benchmark for the specialist skills and knowledge required to transport livestock safely and effectively.

The Skill Set comprises four Units of Competency:

Handle livestock using basic techniques
Care for livestock in transit*
Apply low risk heavy vehicle driving behaviours
Follow work health and safety procedures

The Skill Set aligns with:

Australian Animal Welfare Standards and Guidelines – Land Transport of Livestock
National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR) Regulatory Advice for Livestock Transport

Through industry research, stakeholder consultation, and workforce analysis, ISA has also identified future training and assessment priorities to support the ongoing development of workforce capability across the sector.

The Care for livestock in transit unit has been updated to strengthen coverage of drivers’ obligations relating to animal welfare and biosecurity requirements.

Why this matters

What it means for industry

The Livestock Transport Driver Skill Set provides a benchmark for nationally consistent training and industry best practice, helping to address longstanding gaps in the availability and accessibility of livestock transport training.

By bringing together key competencies from multiple training packages into a single, nationally recognised training product, the Skill Set provides employers, drivers, and training providers with a clearer pathway to developing and validating the specialist capabilities required for livestock transport.

The project will support:

Improved consistency in livestock transport training across Australia
Stronger alignment with animal welfare, biosecurity, and regulatory requirements
Greater confidence in the skills and knowledge of livestock transport drivers
Enhanced workforce capability and professionalism across the sector
Improved access to quality training, particularly in regional and rural areas
Better engagement between the livestock transport industry and the vocational education and training (VET) system

Ultimately, the project will help support a safer, more skilled, and more sustainable livestock transport workforce while providing a foundation for future training and workforce development initiatives across the industry.

Project

What will be delivered

Deliverables

This project will develop:

1 new Skill Set
update the TLI Companion Volume Implementation Guide;
develop a Scoping Report that details recommendations, timeframes, costings and a business case for future work, including:
- changes required to current qualifications and/or units of competency, including mapping of content to identify opportunities to enhance and/or consolidate training products within the TLI and other related training packages,
- training that can be delivered online to offer flexibility for regional, rural and remote operators,
- training that requires face to face delivery for practical demonstration and assessment of skills,
- innovative approaches to training and assessment delivery that should be trialled,
- VET system capacity and capability to meet the industry’s current and future training and assessment needs, and recommendations to address any identified gaps/barriers,
- and implementation guidance to support delivery.

How this will be achieved

Consultation Strategy

Industry Skills Australia (ISA) will engage with stakeholders throughout the life of the project and consider all ideas, opinions, and feedback to the revised training products to ensure they meet the needs of industry. A consultation log containing a high-level summary of all feedback and ISA’s response will be maintained and available on our website.

ISA will facilitate a webinar following endorsement of the training products to support stakeholders in understanding the changes and provide advice on implementation.

Latest updates

Project Commencement

Technical Commitee Established

Subject Matter Experts

Project Launch Webinar

Consultation and feedback

Public Consultation – Second Round

Public Consultation – Second Round

Public Consultation – First Round

Draft Training Products

Finalisation and submission

Submission

General updates

Timeline

Consultation Strategy