Request for Quote - National Food and Fibre Education Strategy

Background

Australia’s food and fibre sector is underpinned by its people. It is envisaged that fostering an interest in food and fibre industries amongst school students from an early age will increase their likelihood of pursuing food and fibre careers across the whole supply chain, including but not limited to research, farming, food manufacturing and commercial roles.

The 15 Research and Development Corporations (RDCs) have agreed to collaborate on National Food and Fibre Education Strategy. The delivery of the strategy will be managed by AgriFutures on behalf of the 15 RDCs.

The RDCs have been working to ensure that food and fibre industries are more relevant and accessible to educators and school students. Much of this work has been undertaken through membership of the Primary Industries Education Foundation Australia (PIEFA).

This collaboration on this strategy will increase the impact of food and fibre education, ensure the curriculum is aligned from a cross-industry workforce perspective, ensure the most efficient and effective use of available resources and address any gaps in the current approach.

Building on the work of PIEFA, we know that when teachers and students have access to a curriculum based on industry-driven food and fibre education material, they have a proper understanding of career options in the food and fibre sector and will contribute to the long-term productivity and sustainability of the industry.

Download the full RFQ document

Service requirements

AgriFutures Australia, on behalf of the 15 Research and Development Corporations (RDCs), is seeking a dynamic service provider to deliver a review of existing primary and secondary food and fibre education initiatives on a local, state, and national level to identify gaps and opportunities for innovative ways to boost food and fibre education. In addition, the provider will be required to develop a Food and Fibre Education Strategy including objectives, activities (including links to RDC strategies), and success measures.

The project must involve the following key activities:

• Engage in key stakeholder consultation with relevant organisations, including but not limited to PIEFA, Skills Insight, Registered Training Organisations, schools, career advisors, education peak bodies and RDCs.
• Undertake a gap analysis to address why students and teachers/career advisors are not engaging in food and fibre education. Noting successful supplier will receive an existing list of food and fire education initiatives, but may be required to undertake additional desktop research.
• Identify opportunities for case studies that highlight the connection between food, the workforce, career opportunities and education.
• Identify ways for effective collaboration between food and fibre and education organisations and industries.
• Create a set of criteria to determine what ‘high quality and effective’ food, fibre and agricultural education is and identify what is needed to achieve them.
• Undertake a review of the current state of how food, fibre and agriculture is supported within current National, State and Territory-based curriculums to identify gaps and opportunities to further embed related learning area content descriptions and elaborations across all stages of learning.
• Inclusion of a value proposition for schools to understand the benefits of having agriculture teachers and an increased focus on using food, fibre and agriculture content to meet learning outcomes.
• Develop a world leading Food and Fibre Education Strategy through information scouting, stakeholder consultation and uniting diverse resources to create a collaborative environment for food, fibre and agricultural education. Stakeholder consultation must include other RDC’s.
• Incorporate the development of a Food and Fibre Curriculum and implementation plan as a key activity of the Strategy.

Further information including resources, deliverables, budget, evaluation criteria and conditions of participation can be found in the full RFQ document.

Timeline

Submitting a quote

Applications for this Request for Quote must be submitted via email to .

Respondents will be expected to provide:

• Provide a summary highlighting how your organisation’s approach and services are a best fit for provision of the above services
• A detailed project plan – including timelines, stakeholder engagement overview, how the project will be conducted and how this will meet the requirements of the RFQ
• A detailed budget – attachments may be included
• Overview of the respondent’s capability and relevant experience
• Examples of similar work the respondent has completed, including testimonials or references from companies that you have provided a similar service.

The resultant Contract is expected to commence on Friday, 6 September 2024.  It is expected that a contract will be awarded based on how well a respondent addresses the objectives of the open tender. Selection will be based on the evaluation criteria. A detailed response will be beneficial.

Terms of Reference

AgriFutures Australia uses standard form contracts and agreements for projects and research procured by AgriFutures Australia (please refer to agrifutures.com.au/contracts-and-agreements). These contracts and agreements set out the terms on which AgriFutures Australia will engage successful applicants to carry out the project.

Applicants must be familiar with the contracts and agreements before submitting a response and are advised to seek legal advice beforehand.
These contracts and agreements have been developed to reflect AgriFutures Australia’s statutory and other procurement responsibilities.
If you require any amendments to the standard agreement, please complete the statement of non-compliance for each of the relevant clause. AgriFutures will then assess those requests.

Applicants will be taken to have agreed to all clauses in the Service Provider Agreement that are not referred to in a statement of non-compliance. The extent of any non-compliance will be a factor in AgriFutures Australia’s evaluation of the application. If you require further information regarding these contracts and agreements, please get in touch with your AgriFutures contact listed below.

Contact

Abbey O’Callaghan  
Manager, Workforce Delivery

0497 996 096

Jennifer Galloway 
Acting General Manager, Workforce, Communication and Adoption

0436 326 386