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, and subsequently develop a Food and Fibre Education Strategy.
This Request for Quote has been extended to close on Monday, 2 September 2024 at 12 noon AEST.
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.
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
Activity |
Date |
RFQ – applications open |
Monday, 29 July 2024 |
RFQ Q&A session |
Wednesday, 14 August 2024, 12:00pm – 1:00pm AEST |
RFQ – applications close |
Monday, 2 September 2024, 12 noon AEST |
Intended completion date of evaluation of respondent’s applications |
Monday, 9 September 2024 |
Negotiations with respondents (if applicable) Expected execution of contract or issue of agreement and commencement of Project |
Friday, 13 September 2024 |
Final report delivery date |
Friday, 2 May 2025 |
Expected project completion date |
Friday, 6 June 2025 |
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
FAQs
Is there the possibility to extend the timeframes?
Due to feedback received during the RFQ Q&A session, we have decided to make adjustments to both the RFQ and project timeframes. This is now reflected in the RFQ timeline above.
Is there a steering committee in place for this project?
There is no formal steering committee in place for this specific project. Major decisions will be made through the Council of RDCs and there will be a smaller assessment panel for this RFQ.
Quite a number of different stakeholder groups are listed in the RFQ. What does the collaboration look like today across those groups?
All groups listed in the RFQ have already collaborated on a number of occasions before and will be open to being engaged in this process. Introductions can be provided to the successful provider.
What are the expectations around the output for the curriculum?
There is not an expectation to write a curriculum as an output this project. Just ensure you are considering a curriculum at all parts of developing your strategy and take into consideration the work PIEFA has done and continues to do in this space.
Who’s going to pick up the strategy and use it?
It’s being written for the RDCs, but will likely have considerations about who they will need to partner with and work with to make that happen – i.e. education bodies/industry. Keeping in mind the majority of RDCs have their own existing education programs, which will need to be considered when exploring gaps and opportunities.
Are we looking at a K-12 approach, or senior or secondary?
This project is looking broadly at food and fibre education in Australian schools right from kindergarten/prep to year 12.
Will this project look to barriers to teachers getting into agriculture?
All RFQ applicants will have a different approach, however it is likely the consideration of teachers adoption of food and fibre education will play a big part in this strategy.
Who is on the selection panel for this RFQ?
- Susan Howe – MLA
- Jo Hargeaves – Wine Australia
- AgriFutures representative
- Education representative
What is the consultation process for this project?
It is expected stakeholder engagement and consultation will be included as part of this project but the RDCs will also take into consideration what consultation looks like post strategy completion.
Is there an opportunity for everyone who is submitting an application for this RFQ to work together?
One applicant will be selected as the successful provider. However, they are welcome to collaborate with other parties and we would expect they would consult the experts in the space throughout the development of the strategy.
Is university teacher training/education going to be considered in terms of education programs as defined by the RFQ?
This project is specifically targeted at schools, so university is outside the remit of this project.
Is the key focus of the strategy about ‘agriculture education’ or ‘agriculture in education’?
There is an element of both:
- Best practice within the food and fibre subjects
- The RFQ also speaks to how we can embed food and fibre related material into other subjects separate from agriculture.
Is VET/TAFE training that is taught in schools included in the definition of a ‘curriculum’?
This is not currently within the scope of this project.