About the project

The research aims to address knowledge and practice gaps that have led to the intractable challenge of effectively engaging CALD communities' members in jobs and careers in agriculture. The benefit and purpose of such an approach is to establish connections linking lived experiences of employers and employees, and the policy environment that intersects with those experiences to influence CALD workers engagement in agriculture work. The multi-scale dataset will be used to develop evidence-based series of resources and models of engagement that target and address intractable challenges and barriers.

This proposed research seeks to add value beyond the planned evaluations of two projects currently being implemented by the Gardiner Foundation (PROJECT 1: Accelerating the engagement of CALD Workforce into Victorian Agricultural Communities Project; and PROJECT 2: Enhancing Employment & Engagement Experiences of CALD Dairy Workers Project) to solicit a deeper, and more comprehensive understanding of the experiences of CALD community members and the constraints and opportunities they face. Our approach seeks to explore employer and employee perspectives of constraints and opportunities, recognising that addressing constraints from an employee angle may not improve the situation if constraints from an employer angle are not also considered. The principle of mutuality guides our approach.

Collaborators and partners

Catherine Waite, University of Melbourne

Ruth Nettle, University of Melbourne

Vili Iese, University of Melbourne

Charlene Edwards, University of Melbourne

Anastasia Gramatakos, University of Melbourne

Thomas Li, University of Melbourne

Gardiner Foundation

Agriculture Victoria

Project dates

2025-2026

Funding

The project is funded through the Gardiner Foundation and Agriculture Victoria