Grain Trade Australia's Diploma Proves Local Success

Two students are being celebrated by Grain Trade Australia (GTA) for the success in completing the new Diploma of Grain Management, designed to prepare graduates to work in an increasingly sophisticated and complex industry.

South Australian, Kimberley Hoepner and Adrian Mondy from WA completed the Diploma in record time, and while working as full-time employees in the grains industry.

Kimberley grew up on her family’s grain property near Flow region Balaklava, in Mid-North SA, and works as a grain accumulation officer at ADM Adelaide, which also sponsored her study.

Kimberley graduated from Marcus Oldham College with a Bachelor of Business majoring in agribusiness, and saw the Diploma as a chance to hone her grain skills.

“It offers a range of electives that complemented my grain skills, and I appreciated the chance to learn grain accounting, human resource and staff management,” she said. The GTA Diploma of Grain Management was developed after two years of consultation with industry and is recognised under the Australian Qualifications Framework and accredited by the Australian Skills Quality Authority. GTA chairman, Peter Reading, said the Diploma was designed to educate stakeholders across the grain value chain, from producer to end user. “It equips them with grain-specific skills to operate within this valuable export industry, and I think Kimberley and Adrian have done a terrific job in fast-tracking their study to graduate in a year, when the Diploma would normally take three years,” he said. There are currently 190 students across the country completing the Diploma as a whole or as skills sets, where prior learning is recognised.

The course is delivered in face to face workshops, with all assessments completed online. WA graduate, Adrian Mondy was sponsored by CBH and says the GTA Diploma of Grain Management was a very well-run, well-rounded course with excellent communication. “It was a challenge to study alongside work but my last qualification was a Bachelor’s degree in 1992, and it’s important to continue to be up to date with the latest industry skills,” Adrian said. He’s worked in agriculture for most of his life at Mukinbudin and then Calingiri, and says the Diploma gave him an insight into different parts of the grain industry. Image Source - Adrian Mondy and Kimberley Hoepner at the Australian Grains Industry Conference in Melbourne. Provided by GTA.