Fiona Plunkett is responsible for Charles Darwin University’s Workplace Trainee Program, working with beef production enterprises in the pastoral and agricultural industry. A large part of her role is ensuring that the training is up to date and relevant for industry clients.
Currently the program works with 39 cattle stations and nearly 200 students. Fiona and her team spend a lot of their time working remotely in dusty cattle yards. They encounter significant challenges ensuring resources are contextualised, engaging, and support literacy and numeracy requirements in environments that experience technological obstacles, such as poor or non-existent digital access and telephony services.
In addition Fiona trains clients at the rural campus in Katherine, including participants of the NT Cattleman’s Association Indonesia Australia Pastoral Program and recently presented a case study, with a colleague, to the National Centre for Vocational Education Research, entitled “Tall Tales from the Top End: A Case Study of education, training and employment in the Northern Territory”.