Category: Agri Labour

It’s time to meet ALA’s Lily Brown. Having joined the team a little while ago, Lily is an Account Manager based in our Kelvin Grove office but is always happier when she’s heading west to the wide open spaces of the country.

Having spent a portion of her childhood on her family’s Queensland cattle property in Warwick, Lily has been riding horses before she could walk. A huge lover of polo, prior to joining us, Lily spent two years working as a polo groom where she travelled throughout Queensland, NSW and over to New Zealand with a professional polo team.

With her easy going manner, commitment to getting things done and her ability to strike up a conversation with anyone from any age or background, Lily is already forging a brilliant reputation with our clients.

We are excited to watch Lily go from strength to strength as she builds her career in an industry that’s close to her heart. Here’s a few more facts on Lily:

Name: Lily Brown

Role: Account Manager

Office location: Kelvin Grove

What drew you to working with ALA?

I have a keen interest in all things agriculture, and I like the diversity of the clients Agri Labour Australia has. From seafood processing to cotton production and everything in between, I’m always interested in how the industry works.

What skills (unique or otherwise) do you bring to your role?

A general understanding of the agricultural industry, a bit of a different background having spent half my time in the country, and half in the city.

What are you enjoying about working with ALA?

The people! So many friendly faces to welcome me into life at ALA. I’m also really enjoying learning new things about the recruitment side of agriculture.

Would you like to tell us about your family? (optional)

My mum is a journalist turned real estate agent, who has several magazines based between Brisbane and the Darling Downs. Dad previously worked in the wine industry, now retired, he has a keen interest in beef cattle production/sales. My younger brother works as a diesel mechanic.

What are your hobbies and interests?

I have been riding horses since I could walk, with the sport of polo being my main interest. I also thoroughly enjoy working with young horses – I enjoy the challenge that comes with a horse that has limited education.

Favourite place in Australia and why?

Anywhere in the country! As much as I enjoy aspects of city living, I prefer the wide open spaces and fresh air that the country provides.

What are you looking forward to in 2022?

Learning and improving in my role at Agri Labour Australia, meeting new people, getting to know my clients and travelling to see more of rural Australia.

Every day is National Ag Day at Agri Labour Australia! And while we may not actually ‘celebrate’ National Ag Day each day, our team certainly lives, loves and breathes agriculture every single day of the week!

This year’s #AgDayAU theme is all about celebrating the fabulous and fulfilling career opportunities on offer in the agriculture industry – time to choose your #AgVenture!

Australian agriculture offers endless possibilities with some of the best scenery and job options available. The incredible diversity of Australia’s landscapes make it one of the most desirable places to visit anywhere in the world – it’s why (before Covid-19 shut our borders) hundreds of thousands of backpackers hit our shores to take up their very own #AgVenture.

Australia has always been a place of interest for international travellers, but more and more school leavers and every day Aussies are choosing to explore their own backyard and try their hands at working in agriculture. Visit any cattle station or outback town and you’ll find more than one happy local who went looking for a short term adventure and are still there because they love the work, the people, the excitement, and the lifestyle – not to mention the spectacular scenery.

From mango harvesting in the Northern Territory and Queensland to grain, rice and almond harvests in the Riverina region of NSW and regional areas of Victoria, all the way down to cherry picking or aquaculture in Tasmania – we literally have something to suit and excite everyone! If you’ve done a great job, we’ll be sure to connect you with another great employer in another fantastic destination doing well paid farm work.

If adventure is calling you, then get in touch with us to see how we can help you take you on a lifetime of #AgVenture!

Site visits are and will always be, a priority for the Agri Labour Australia team. Staying connected through face to face meetings is a vital part in understanding what’s really happening for our clients and candidates.

While many of our team have been raised in rural and regional areas, some have not and it’s an important part of a recruiter’s job to learn firsthand about the agriculture industry, a client’s business and where our candidates will be working.

Site visits are an integral part of ALA’s client service and enable us to build those all important relationships, while getting to the heart of the challenges and needs of our clients. In addition to supporting our clients, we are also there to see our candidates in action. On site visits, we can assess how people are performing, the safety of the environment, what the role is really like and how they are being treated.

Not being able to make many site visits during the Covid-19 restrictions was a challenge for many of our team who thrive on getting out to see their clients. Now, with borders opening and Australian agriculture entering into its busy summer season, some of our newer ALA team members have been hitting the road and visiting parts of rural Australia for the very first time!

With the Australian grain harvest building momentum, a few of the boys headed out to Goondiwindi to learn more about what working on a grain site is really like for both the operators and the workers.

Recruitment Consultant Kyle Bradford said, ’We’ve been recruiting for a lot of different grain clients, so it was really good to get some firsthand knowledge and actually be on the ground to see how it all works. The more information the better when recruiting – that way we can provide candidates with the details to paint a truer picture of the job.’

It was the first time on a grain site for two of the team who both enjoyed the experience of jumping into a header and chaser bin to see how the machine works. They also spoke with various workers and ALA candidates to learn how they were finding the work.

Kyle said, ‘I couldn’t believe how happy everyone was. They’re working 12 hour days, but even though it can be hard, they were all smiling and loving the work. It was also cool to see how the machines and people work so cooperatively to get the job done – it’s serious but everyone also has fun.’

Agri Labour Australia are always ready to welcome new staff and candidates to our agriculture recruitment team. Just like the grain harvest, we work hard but we also know how to have a good time! For more information, visit our website for upcoming roles.

At Agri Labour Australia, we understand that the idea of relocating to work in Australia can be as daunting as it is exciting. That’s why we’re here to help you understand the process and make it easier. 

As a Government-approved employer of the Pacific Labour Scheme (PLS), we give candidates from participating countries the opportunity to secure work in the agricultural industry for up to three years at a time. This gives you plenty of time to settle into and explore your temporary home.

With guaranteed fair working conditions and competitive wages, you’ll be able to make your overseas working experience count towards school fees or bigger financial goals like building a house. Plus, you’ll be able to experience all the beauty and adventure Australia has to offer when you’re not working.

Once you become a member of “My Agri Family”, we’ll do whatever we can to make sure you get value out of your experience. Don’t just take our word for it, though – watch the short video below to see life in Australia through the eyes of some of our candidates from the Pacific Islands. 

National Safe Work Month at ALA was action packed! Filled with great information posts, videos, timely updates and fun activities but most importantly highlighting our total commitment to safety.

Our WHS Officer Caitlyn Craddock went above and beyond in developing and implementing new resources for our clients and candidates. From the publication of important safety docs into a range of languages for candidates to addressing mental health and where to find support, here’s a snapshot of just how much we’ve covered this National Work Safe Month.

Week 1: Keeping all Workers Safe

• Responsibilities – who’s responsible where, when and how
• Language barriers – making sure they don’t get in the way of safety
• Development of new and old resources in different languages including Mandarin, Malay, Arabic, Korean, Chinese, Hindi, Italian and with more coming!
• Risk assessments and hazard identification – what you need to know

 Week 2: Mental Health

• Mental health and psychological hazards – knowing where and how to go for help
• Resources for identifying level of risk for mental health in the workplace
• Tools to reduce impact of work on workers mental health

 Week 3: Clean Air = Clear Lungs

• Raise awareness on what roles and environments can cause lung problems in agriculture
• How we can control those hazards and keep ourselves safe and breathing easy

 Week 4: Inside and Out

• How work can affect your health and what personal choices impact on your ability to work
• Hazardous chemicals
• Manual handling
• Covid-19
• Confined spaces
• Ergonomics
• Weather – sun, bushfires, floods, lightning

Wrapping it all up was our fantastic staff BBQ where we had a great time eating, playing games and learning how else we can keep each other safe.

Continuing our safety updates for National Safe Work Month – we want to highlight the importance of YOUR role in keeping yourself and others safe.

The ‘she’ll be right mate,’ attitude that many Australians have towards safety continues to be a major issue in the workplace and one that causes countless accidents. To ignore a safety issue can and does result in fatalities. While worker fatalities have decreased 50% since its peak in 2007, we still have a long to go in keeping everyone safe. Here are some of the latest industry statics:

• Tasmania has the highest fatality rate per 100,000 workers
• The number one cause of workplace death is vehicle collisions (41%)
• The agriculture, forestry and fishing industry has the highest fatality rate per 100,000 workers (13.1) equalling 46 deaths

Staying Safe – Your Role & Responsibilities

Can you imagine living with knowing that you could have done something to prevent someone’s injury or death? It may sound dramatic, but everyone has the right to return home to their family at the end of their shift and that’s what the safety team at ALA are 100% focused on.

Each and every one of us are by law required to abide by certain safety rules which are outlined below:

Under WHS legislation a worker must:

1. Take reasonable care of your own health and safety
2. Take reasonable care that your acts or omissions to not adversely affect the health and safety of others
3. Comply, so far as reasonably practicable with any reasonable instruction given by your PCBU (employer) to allow the PCBU to comply with WHS Act and Regulations.
4. Co-operate with any reasonable policy or procedures relating to WHS

Risk Management:

At ALA we believe in educating our clients, candidates and staff on their safety role.

Prior to working with our clients, we complete a site inspection and risk assessment to determine if the work area is safe. While every effort is made, sometimes things change and new hazards appear – this is when you must report in.

If you see something unsafe at work, please inform your supervisor immediately and contact your recruiter or ALA as soon as possible so we can ensure the hazard is adequality managed.

When you get to work:

1. Assess your work area for any hazards – Is there anything that cause me harm?
2. Have I been trained on how to do the job safely? And do I feel confident I can do it safely?
3. Do I know where the emergency exits are? Are they clear?
4. Have I got all my personal protective equipment (PPE) on?
5. Am I mentally and physically able to do this job? (Fatigue, mental health, manual handling etc)

Injuries:

If you are injured at work, please call our injury hotline on 1300 448 518 to get immediate medical assistance.

For more information about WHS:

SafeWork NSW

WorkSafe Queensland

WorkSafe Victoria

WorkSafe ACT

SafeWork SA

NT WorkSafe

WorkSafe WA

WorkSafe Tasmania

SafeWork Australia

With October being National Work Safe Month, we thought it the perfect time to raise the profile of our seriously amazing WHS Officer Caitlyn Craddock.

Selected for her authenticity, technical safety knowledge and enthusiasm, Caitlyn joined the ALA team in 2020 and has been impressing us with her professionalism ever since.

Caitlyn’s safety journey began when she was undertaking a Certificate in construction and started studying a range of safety components within the course. Following these studies, she undertook her school placement with a tier one builder, where a passionate WHS manager ignited her desire to make the working world a safer place.

It wasn’t long before others noticed Caitlyn’s commitment and maturity and at just sixteen, she was working onsite and delivering Toolbox talks to construction staff.

Having grown up around animals and farms in Qld and NSW, Caitlyn has always been drawn to rural life, so the move to agriculture seemed like natural progression. Caitlyn said, ‘Agriculture has the highest fatality rate and is also lagging behind other industries in their safety processes. I love the challenge of driving positive change and playing a role in improving safety in the industry.’

We know we are lucky to have Caitlyn on our team and look forward to watching her continue to raise the standard of safety for the agriculture industry. Read more about Caitlyn and her thoughts on safety in our Q & A below:

What are your Qualifications

• Certificate IV WHS
• Diploma in Occupational Health & Safety
• Rehabilitation and Return to Work Coordinator Training
• Certificate IV in Training and Assessment – (current)
• Bachelor Occupational Health and Safety – CQ University (current)

 Do you apply your safety principles to everyday life? If so, how? 

Hard question! I often use the ‘risk to reward’ methodology to make any important decision in my life. I identify the risk, assess the controls in place and make an informed decision. I also try to be organised and prepared at all times so that if anything does go wrong, I can fix it or minimise the consequences. I have to ‘walk my talk’!

What do you think the biggest problem with safety in the workplace is?

‘She’ll be right’, or ’It won’t happen to me’ attitude. Nobody expects to go to work and not come home, so ultimately choosing to ignore a safety problem could be the cause of death or a serious injury to someone else.

Your choices not only affect yourself, but also those around you.

You have achieved a lot since you began your career in safety which is impressive – as is your maturity. What do you put that down to?

I think I’ve always been mature for my age. I have consistently strived to be independent and set goals for where I want to be at various stages in my life. Goal setting is a big thing for me.

This field of work definitely made a difference to my maturity – it’s hard to earn respect in the workplace being a young female with minimal experience. I had to train myself to have the confidence to stand up when something wasn’t right and to get back up when I got knocked down.

Having great managers who believed in me over the years gave me the inspiration to keep pushing and believing that one day I will do the same for the next generation of safety professionals.

What do you enjoy about your role with ALA?

I enjoy being able to share my knowledge with clients and our internal team. I love being able to go out and visit sites to ensure the workplaces are safe for candidates. I also love having the variety of work and variations across industry that I work with. No two days are the same.

The team at ALA are really lovely and take health and safety seriously which gives me the room to make a real difference.

What are your future career aspirations?

I am passionate about accident prevention and investigation. In the future the idea of becoming an accident investigator for the regulators is quite appealing and I would like to work my way up the ladder to be a safety manager as well.

What are the things that make you happy? 

I am very outdoorsy and take every opportunity I can to get out on the road. I love horse riding, camping and adventuring.

Safety – it’s the most important thing in any workplace. Over the last few decades, workplace safety has evolved from just being about steel caps, and hard hats on construction sites to becoming a critical requirement across all industries.

Being safe is smart and absolutely vital to any business who wants to keep its people safe, while also ensuring their business remains protected and compliant.

With agriculture listed as Australia’s most dangerous industry, Agri Labour Australia takes safety extremely seriously. With a dedicated and passionate safety team, we never stop reviewing, refining, researching, educating and improving our processes to ensure we are doing all we can to keep our people, clients and communities safe.

Over the next few weeks, we will be posting on the many and varied aspects that comprise safety today. From risk assessments, mental health, and confined spaces to Covid-19 and everything in between, we want to keep raising safety awareness and building a culture that embraces safety – not only for National Work Safe Month but for each and every day.

More new faces to welcome to the ‘Agri Family’ with the recent arrivals of Nina Liu and Linda Li to the hard working finance unit in our Brisbane office last month.

These ladies, along with the rest of the clever finance crew are behind the efficient management of Agri Labour Australia’s critical finances; they also to help to make make sure everyone gets paid each week!

Read up on our two new account aficionados below:

Name: Xiaoxu Liu – also known as Nina

Role: Accounts Manager

Qualifications/trades: CPA Accountant

What did you do before joining ALA?

I worked for AGPAL in their finance team for 8 years.

What drew you to working with ALA?

I acquired my CPA status early this year and felt that it was the right time to progress my career. The opportunity at ALA came up, so it all came together at the right time!

What skills (unique or otherwise) do you bring to your role?

Understanding of accounting compliance which is really important for the type of work I do here.

What are you enjoying about working with ALA?

Lovely people and culture, and flexible work arrangements.

Would you like to tell us about your family?

I am a mum to two young boys, one cat and one husband, ha-ha! I also have a brother living in Brisbane.

Where did you grow up?  

Inner Mongolia in the northern part of China.

What are your hobbies and interests?

Sports – tennis, 4WD, music.

Favourite place in Australia and why?

Beaches! There are so many beautiful beaches in Australia. I grew up in a place far away from the ocean, so for me, to be able to spend some relaxing time on a beach is precious.

What are you looking forward to?

Same as every year, have an enjoyable life with my family and the people around me. I hope I am still bringing happiness to the people around me.

 

Name: Rongping Li – better known as Linda

Role: Payroll Officer

Qualifications/trades: Certificate IV Accounting/Bookkeeping

What did you do before joining ALA?

Payroll officer at PCYC QLD.

What drew you to working with ALA?

It’s got a great reputation!

What skills (unique or otherwise) do you bring to your role?

Mathematics!

What are you enjoying about working with ALA?

Friendly colleagues.

Would you like to tell us about your family?

I have a husband and ten year old son.

Where did you grow up?  

A small town in Hebei province, China.

What are your hobbies and interests?

Feeding my son various kinds of Chinese food, and teaching him Olympic maths.

Favourite place in Australia and why?

I love the beach. It is so beautiful and makes people smile.

What are you looking forward to in 2021?

Covid to be gone, and everything goes back to normal (we agree!)