CQUniversity’s Agri-Tech Education & Extension team are working to change the way the current and next generation of the agricultural workforce engage with research and industry leading practice change within the supply chain. We do this by delivering collaborative projects between researchers and educators to engage students with agri-tech and build the digital literacy of the current agricultural workforce. Our team work with students and professionals from foundation/kindergarten to tertiary, and from early-career to established career professionals across industries in rural and regional Australia.

The Agricultural Knowledge Survey was developed to expand on existing but dated research on the agricultural literacy of Australian students. The 2021 survey was designed for students in Grade 4-6 (Junior Survey) and Year 7-10 (Senior Survey) with 5,187 eligible students completing the survey from 157 schools across Australia.

The survey aimed to gain an understanding of student knowledge and awareness of the agricultural industry across Australia with results to be used by the Agri-Tech Education and Extension team to expand and further develop education programs and professional learning opportunities for teachers to increase knowledge, engagement, and appreciation of the agricultural industry.

The Australian education system lacks a formal framework for assessment of students’ agricultural literacy. This represents a significant limitation, though it is common deficiency across many international jurisdictions. One exception is the United States, which developed the National Agricultural Literacy Outcomes (NALOs) to allows for national benchmarking of student knowledge. The survey results presented in this report were motivated by the NALOs and a similar interest to understand the knowledge of agriculture in Australian students.