New Food and Agribusiness Course in Warrnambool

The new major will capitalise on the Great South Coast’s agricultural strength and respond to an appetite for further delivery of qualifications in agribusiness.

Students can enrol in 2018 for the Bachelor of Commerce and start their specialisation in Food and Agribusiness in 2019.

Deakin University Warrnambool Director Alistair McCosh said the major would be part of an internationally-recognised Bachelor of Commerce.

“The opportunity to offer a new major in Food and Agribusiness within our Commerce degree is an exciting development for the Warrnambool campus and for the food and agribusiness sector in the south west region,” Mr McCosh said.

In the development of the new offer, Deakin consulted widely across industry, business and key stakeholders such as Dairy Australia and the Victoria Farmers Federation.

“In all our discussions there was strong support for this new course to be delivered from Deakin’s Warrnambool campus,” Mr McCosh said. “This will be Deakin’s first course that focuses on agribusiness and to be able to offer it from the Warrnambool campus located in the heart of Australia’s premier dairy region is a great outcome.”

The new major is part of the Campus’ commitment to a sustainable education model with courses that attract viable student numbers and provide strong employment prospects for graduates.

A scoping review identified strong demand for agribusiness graduates on a local and national scale across multiple sectors of the food and fibre supply-chain including the processing, financial management and business advisory sectors as well as within farm-based businesses.

Sixty per cent of the Great South Coast region’s economy depends on the food and fibre supply-chain which employs an estimated 22 per cent of the region’s workers.

Industry has indicated that enhancing agribusiness skills within the food and fibre sector is a priority driven by rapid changes to businesses structures and increasing complexity in the management of food and fibre-based businesses.

The major will seek to address a number of agribusiness skill gaps that have been identified through consultation with industry, including work integrated learning and agritech topics

It has also been designed to appeal to broad student markets by including practical, technical and business-based content.

Industry has indicated strong support for the course and a number of partnership opportunities are being explored.

The Bachelor of Commerce is taught by the Deakin Business School, which has AACSB accreditation, considered to be one of the most prestigious accreditations in the world for business schools.

Information about the new major is available here and will also be available at the Deakin University Warrnambool Campus Open Day on Sunday 6 August.