Cover image courtesy of the Gold Coast Turf Club
Early in this series, we visited the role that education pathways play in tackling the staff crisis in our industry. We looked at New South Wales' solutions through the Workforce Development Project, and we made mention of established institutions like Fast Track and Thoroughbred Industry Careers (TIC).
Each of these has been a vital tool for both recruitment and retention, some established many years now in Australia, and others just kicking off.
Their existence tells us that the avenues are there for the professional education of both people heading into racing, and people that are already in racing.
At the Hunter Thoroughbred Breeders Association (HTBA), Executive Officer Julianne Christopher told us that the industry had relied for too long on the transience of visa workers. It was such a heavy reliance, too, that we had stopped training our own people.
“It’s really important that we realise we are responsible for our own skilled workforce, for attracting them and retaining them,” Christopher told us. “It’s our responsibility to do that in each state.”
“It’s really important that we realise we are responsible for our own skilled workforce, for attracting them and retaining them. It’s our responsibility to do that in each state.” - Julianne Christopher
It’s hard to argue with that reasoning.
Was it time the industry took ownership of all the years spent hiring backpackers and seasonal travellers? Was it time for farms to start opening up to trainees, or affiliating themselves with accredited course providers?
Was it time, perhaps, for racing yards to recruit ground staff as a skilled, educated workforce, and to start paying them as such?
John Sunderland and Julianne Christopher | Image courtesy of Muswellbrook Race Club
The conversation was endless, but when it came to the education pathways, few could argue they were already there in the major racing states of Australia. For this part of our series, we’re going to look at one that’s just established itself on the Gold Coast – Equine Industry QuickStart (Equine IQ).
In-industry school
Equine IQ is an affiliation between the Australian Industry Trade College (AITC) and the Gold Coast Turf Club (GCTC).
Based at the AITC’s Robina campus, it’s a program that targets school-age children, specifically Year 10 students, which is probably what sets it apart from the more established pathways around the country.
Each of the kids, for instance, studying via the AITC curriculum, will complete Years 10, 11 and 12 for a Queensland Certificate of Education, all the while alongside Certificates II and III in Racing Industry.
An open day held at Aquis Elysian Fields as part of the GCTC and AITC Equine Industry IQ program | Image courtesy of the Gold Coast Turf Club
It’s a non-traditional pathway through the final years of school, insofar as students are not in the private, Catholic or public school systems. But it is a pathway that completes high school through trade-based education, an in-industry school, if you will.
“The most important thing is that these kids finish their education,” said Ian Brown, the GCTC’s executive manager of racing and integrity. “That is one thing that is very important to the AITC, that the students complete their Year 12.
“From an industry point of view, they will have a Certificate II or a Certificate III in Racing Industry, which will then give them the options to go on for employment, or they could potentially move into tertiary education.”
“The most important thing is that these kids finish their education. That is one thing that is very important to the AITC, that the students complete their Year 12.” - Ian Brown
The Equine IQ program starts on day one of Year 10.
For the first six months, students are exposed to facets of the racing industry by way of talks, information sessions, tours and dedicated support. There’s a Year 10 parent-information evening early on, and, in July, the formal program kicks off.
Students matriculate into Year 11 where they commence their Certificate II in Racing Industry and, by September of Year 11, they can specialise with Certificate III. Each will graduate the three-year program at the end of Year 12.
“This is the very first instalment of it, this year,” Brown said. “We’ve had three open days over the last two months, which have been very well-supported, and we’ve got 15 applicants that will begin the program this month.
Ian Brown | Image courtesy of the Gold Coast Turf Club
“The kids have come from all over southeast Queensland, and while the majority of them are in Year 10, two of them are in Year 11.”
The demographic of the 15 students is interesting.
Fourteen of them are female with a single male, and there are obvious questions about the overwhelming ratio of girls to boys at this entry level. For example, why are boys not coming forward? Are horses seen as a girl-dominated sport among teens?
“I think it comes down to that pony club background, in a lot of cases,” Brown said. “The equestrian scene is filled with girls wanting to be involved with horses at that particular age, and maybe boys are looking at other pathways.
An open day held at Aquis Elysian Fields as part of the GCTC and AITC Equine Industry IQ program | Image courtesy of the Gold Coast Turf Club
“It’s something we need to continue to try and promote, this breadth of the industry. It’s not just about strapping or riding a horse. It could be about becoming a mechanic, a track curator or turf specialist, or even a race club CEO.”
Upping the standards
At a high-school level, young people are coached into thinking that the world is their oyster. Their minds are open to all options, and their ambitions can be far-sighted or humbly local.
After many years in the workforce, this can change. It can be harder to think about other career options, so catching the younger audience and inviting them in with possibilities will be a critical cog in the racing industry’s future.
An open day held at Aquis Elysian Fields as part of the GCTC and AITC Equine Industry IQ program | Image courtesy of the Gold Coast Turf Club
This is something that Equine IQ understands well as it exposes young people to skills of farriery, trackwork and so on. Students enjoy tours to the GCTC, Aquis Farm and racedays, and this metro environment is one of the drawcards of this program.
For example, one of the 15 students in the current Equine IQ is showing interest in becoming a steward. It’s a career that probably wouldn’t get as much oxygen in a regional campus.
“And that’s really the crux of this,” Brown said. “It’s so important to demonstrate the breadth of the racing industry, and getting children at a Year 10 level is an opportunity for us, as an industry, to mould and shape our future.”
“It’s so important to demonstrate the breadth of the racing industry, and getting children at a Year 10 level is an opportunity for us, as an industry, to mould and shape our future.” - Ian Brown
Brown said that Equine IQ will not only increase the workforce pool in racing; it will increase the quality of the workforce. But what does he mean by that?
“Improving the standards that we, as an industry, require,” Brown said.
He knows a bit about this already. In his life before the GCTC, he was a race club steward for a decade, and before that he was a qualified lawyer.
He spent a short time practising law after university, but it wasn’t something he particularly enjoyed. Racing was, however, and Brown’s law degree was something that supported him well in his career as a steward.
An open day held at Aquis Elysian Fields as part of the GCTC and AITC Equine Industry IQ program | Image courtesy of the Gold Coast Turf Club
“I started off as a steward part-time not knowing much about it, and then went into it full-time,” he said. “After about 10 years of that, the GCTC approached me to be their racing manager.
“My background in law certainly helped me in stewarding. A legal background in investigations, enquiries and interpreting rules and legislations was of great assistance to me, but I still had to learn the racing side of the game, so to speak.”
Brown’s own experience has been a good yardstick for the current kids in Equine IQ. It’s given them an example of how wide-open the racing industry is, and how any skills and qualifications can be useful and applied.
An open day held at Aquis Elysian Fields as part of the GCTC and AITC Equine Industry IQ program | Image courtesy of the Gold Coast Turf Club
But Brown emphasises that a tertiary degree isn’t required or expected, and neither is a background in horses.
“At a Year 10 level, experience with horses isn’t required at all,” he said. “That's one of the beauties of the AITC education. The program is designed to expose the children to gradually, at whatever level of experience they have.”
Skin in the game
Programs like Equine IQ are great in theory, and they’re popping up around the industry more and more, but the overwhelming feedback is that they’re proving equally great in practice.
Two of the Equine IQ students have recently completed trials with trainer Adam Campton, for example, and by all accounts it was an excellent experience across the board.
Additionally, the Equine IQ curriculum takes a moment to consider the parents of its young people, well-aware that a career in the racing industry might concern non-racing families. Brown said to date, parents have been very complementary.
“Consideration must really be given to these parents,” he said. “They’ve allowed the children to take the step into a different educational institution, one that’s pretty different from the public or private school systems. And we’ve had great feedback from the parents at this stage. A lot of them are excited about where it might lead their kids.”
“Consideration must really be given to these parents. They’ve allowed the children to take the step into a different educational institution... A lot of them are excited about where it might lead their kids.” - Ian Brown
Equine IQ is here to stay. It will have its permanent place in southeast Queensland, and Brown said they’re even working with such institutions as TIC and Godolphin Flying Start on pathways past Year 12.
As such, this program is a well-nurtured option for school-leavers, and it has a strong platform to reach out via the AITC and GCTC.
“It’s on all parties in our industry to improve our staff situation,” Brown said. “It’s on the PRAs and the race clubs, and it’s on the employers, be it trainers or others. Everyone’s got skin in the game as far as ensuring we improve the industry as a whole.”
