Department of Regional NSW to offer Harvest Leave to staff to help combat labour shortage

The NSW government-run department, which offers public assistance services like Local Land Services (LLS), will offer employees five days of special leave, known as "Harvest Leave" to assist producers in the expected bumper harvest.

It is a first for the state, which has had its workforce severely limited due to COVID-19 enforced travel restrictions, all while bracing for possibly one of the best cropping seasons in decades.

NSW agriculture minister and Northern Tablelands MP Adam Marshall said the move was proof "desperate times call for desperate measures".

"There is no silver bullet to solve the COVID-exacerbated workforce shortage, but this is another step we are implementing to support industry," Mr Marshall said.

"This will be a record season and Harvest Leave provides another positive incentive to ensure this year's crops are harvested, with the flow of economic gains being delivered to local communities and the people of NSW.

"I encourage all eligible staff to take advantage of this initiative, get some fresh country air in the lungs and help alleviate some of the pressures facing farmers during harvest."

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NSW Farmers president James Jackson said the measure was innovative and could prove very beneficial.

"This announcement is most certainly welcome because any help would be fantastic because as Minister Marshall said, desperate times call for desperate measures," Mr Jackson told The Land.

"As well as being a benefit to producers, this program may also be a great opportunity for the department's staff to get some hands-on experience.

"We've been highlighting the dire need to improve access to harvest workers for weeks now, and this will certainly help, but cherry growers, for example, need workers for five weeks, not one.

"There is a shortfall of at least 10,000 harvest workers this season, and that's because of the COVID restrictions we've had in place."

Mr Jackson said he was hopeful the government would continue to pursue other assistance measures.

"However, while this assistance is welcome, I encourage the Minister to look at doubling his efforts to establish on-farm quarantine arrangements and to discuss with his federal counterpart to possibly speed the process along," he said.

"Now that vaccination rates are rapidly rising and we have access to rapid antigen testing, the government needs to vastly improve harvest worker mobility if we are to have any hope of avoiding waste and lost income.

"I'm hopeful the government will also consider measures like the on-farm quarantine pilot we proposed, sooner than later."

THE Public Service Association has lodged a dispute over a plan saying it is a pie in the sky idea.

PSA assistant general secretary Troy Wright said regional NSW is being treated as an afterthought by the state government.

"Rather than addressing the systemic workplace issues in agricultural industry they've cooked up a scheme that's not worth more than the press release it's written on," Mr Wright said.

"It is a dumb, lazy idea that assumes public servants aren't already working. The people being asked to volunteer on farms are the people who, among other things, monitor our state's biosecurity, develop drought resistant crops, and scope future resource and mining opportunities.

"They deliver economic value to the industry and our state, but the government would rather deploy them to pick apples.

"Regional NSW has young people desperate for a job. On the same day our unemployment numbers went up the Deputy Premier offered people who already have a job another job?

"What next? The hospitality sector has a workforce crunch too - should we redeploy prison officers as baristas and get Treasury officials waiting tables?

"What about an actual regional jobs plan from this government? That develops sustainable solutions to our agricultural sector's workforce crisis and delivers safe, well-paid farm work to young people who need it?"

NEW deputy premier and minister for regional NSW Paul Toole said the special leave would play a vital role in delivering the expected bumper harvest.

"Agriculture and farming play a pivotal role in our economy, so providing harvest leave to staff to provide an extra set of hands in the field helps get produce to market and dollars into farmers' pockets," Mr Toole said.

"Nearly 80 per cent of staff from the Department of Regional NSW already live and work in regional NSW, so chances are most of them know their way around a header or a chaser bin and how important this busy time of year is for regional communities.

"We've had a tough run in the regions over the past few years with prolonged drought, and COVID-19, which has significantly impacted seasonal harvest worker availability, right at a time when we need all hands on deck to get crops off.

"These workers can volunteer to help out with any harvest, anywhere in the state - from harvesting blueberries in Coffs Harbour, oranges and table grapes in the Riverina and Murray, to cherries in the Central West or helping bring in a bumper grain harvest."

Department staff members can either find local contacts for the harvest work or via the Help Harvest NSW website.

There is no cost to farmers getting help from departmental volunteers, as staff will be paid at their standard leave rate by the Department.

Leave will be managed to ensure there will be no impact on services provided by the department.

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