‘We are at crisis point’ – Thoroughbred Industry Careers appeals for support in tackling staff shortages
Thoroughbred Industry Careers (TIC) has expressed grave concerns about the staffing shortage in Australia, with the not-for-profit organisation – responsible for promoting careers in racing and breeding – issuing an appeal for further funding from industry participants.
The thoroughbred staffing debate has come to the fore this week, with leading trainer Chris Waller among those suggesting early trackwork start times are directly influencing the number of young people willing to enter the industry.
In an interview with The Sydney Morning Herald, the Rosehill-based trainer questioned whether parents would want their children to start work at 3am and noted how, in a city of over five million people, only children with a love for horses are keen to work in the industry, and that number is ever decreasing.
Stables and breeding operations have long relied on overseas workers to help fill the staffing void, but with Covid-19 restricting travel to Australia in 2020 and into the immediate future, it is a growing concern which must be filled by alternative means.
TIC, founded in late 2018, provides a 12-month educational programme, the Explorer Cadetship, to encourage young people to opt for a career in the industry.
They have put 70 young people through that programme over the last two years, however TIC chief executive Lindy Maurice is calling for further support to enable them to continue their work and increase their numbers of participants amid a serious shortage of industry staff.
“I would say we’re at crisis point,” Maurice said. “Covid has really left us very exposed, because we’ve relied heavily on overseas workers for so long.
“We haven’t really done a lot here developing our own workforce, so now we haven’t got this influx of backpackers or people on visas working on stud farms for yearling sales or in stables, it has left us really exposed.
“I get calls all the time from leading trainers and studs going, ‘God, have you got anyone for us?’
“Things have been pretty bad for the last five or six years, it’s been building. Prue Hayes from Lindsay Park said to me the other day: ‘we’re not at code red, we’re at code purple – we are in such dire straits’.”
In 2018, TIC was founded with the backing of seven industry heavyweights: the Australian Turf Club, Chris Waller Racing, McEvoy Mitchell Racing, Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott Racing, Lindsay Park Racing, Arrowfield and Godolphin.
However, despite the contributions of their founding partners enabling dreams to become a reality for many young people joining the thoroughbred industry, Maurice has expressed the need for a wider industry contribution to fund the work of TIC.
“Initially we got seven major players in Australia to seek funds and get it started,” Maurice explained.
“Now, we need to source more funding. We need to open it up for further industry support to keep us rolling.
“We are wanting to bridge the gap between our industry and the future workforce, because in Australia we don’t have a British Racing School or a Careers In Racing team (a UK-based recruitment initiative, run by the British Horseracing Authority).
“I did a research document when I first decided we needed to do more in this country and I flew to England and Ireland and did a review of what they do over there.
“So we are essentially starting from scratch and we are really just becoming that visual organisation for young people to see us, to know that there is an industry where there is a career, and then someone to contact if they are interested in working with horses in the thoroughbred industry.
“We are ten years behind Britain and Ireland, or more. We didn’t have any grassroot strategies until we came along.”
Maurice gave further detail of the Explorer Cadetship, providing examples of graduates who are already progressing their careers in the industry.
“We came up with this explorer programme, which is a 12-month educational programme for young people,” she said.
“We put them into boot camp for three months, we get them work ready, then we send them to a leading stable for four and a half months, then we swap them over to a stud farm for four and a half months.
“We’ve had 70 kids on that programme in two years and a lot of those are now strapping or track riding Group 1 winners, while some of them are running boutique stud farms.
“Each state PRA (principal racing authority) does little bits and pieces here and there but there was no national programme. The difference with us, because we’re independent, we are national and far reaching.”
TIC have announced a number of sponsorship packages at varying financial levels to allow businesses and individuals to assist them in achieving their goals.
The Diamond Sponsorship is more than $25,000, Gold Sponsorship $20,000 (plus GST), Silver Sponsorship $10,000 (plus GST) and Bronze Sponsorship $5000 (plus GST).
Business logos or individual names will appear on the TIC website should contributors choose as a way of acknowledging their generous support.
To discover more about TIC or explore sponsorship opportunities, click here.