The Queensland Farmers’ Federation’s (QFF) Industry Workforce Advisor (IWA) for agriculture and horticulture, Kym Wessling, is supporting Queensland’s farming businesses to access the tools they need to effectively manage their workforce — from attraction and recruitment through to retention. 

Since entering the IWA role in late 2022, Kym has assisted over 200 businesses to identify workforce challenges and implement tailored solutions that support business growth, sustainability, and diversity. 

One such business is Paradise Orchards Mareeba, a third-generation family-owned avocado and mango farm located in the Atherton Tablelands. 

After learning about the no-cost program from another local grower, farm owner Monique Moreno reached out to the IWA to discuss workforce challenges specific to her business. 

Paradise Orchards worked with QFF’s IWA to develop a tailored Workforce Plan that outlined their goals, identified current workforce challenges, and highlighted future risks. As with many horticultural operations, the farm experiences seasonal labour pressures, making payroll, superannuation, and compliance more complex to manage. 

Following completion of the plan, the IWA helped Paradise Orchards access $5,000 in grant funding through the Workforce Connect Fund. This allowed them to engage a Cairns-based HR consultancy to review and refine their onboarding, induction, and HR policies — helping the business increase compliance and reduce risk. 

Mrs Moreno said the support her business received through the IWA program was transformative. 

“We’ve strengthened our HR structure and systems to improve efficiency and ensure we’re still aligned with industry standards and legislative requirements,” Mrs Moreno said. “We’re now operating with even greater confidence and clarity — and everything runs more smoothly as a result.” 

She added that for small businesses without a dedicated HR team, the IWA program offers significant value. 

“As a small business, we do everything ourselves. Having access to a program like this, and the many resources we’ve now been told about has been incredibly helpful. It’s really helping to close that gap for businesses that don’t have any HR help at all.” 

Mrs Moreno said they were also transitioning their systems to move away from paper-based processes, with the goal of digitising onboarding and induction through their website. 

“We’re getting away from paper, and this process has helped us move towards that goal,” she said. “We’ve got more clarity now, and the plan has helped guide our next steps.” 

She encouraged other growers to get involved and make use of the support on offer.  

If there’s a free workshop—go. These opportunities are here for horticulture, but if we don’t make use of them, they’ll be directed elsewhere. We need to make sure our industry benefits,” she said. 

QFF’s IWA supports farm businesses by providing tailored, one-on-one advice and connecting them with a range of workforce development opportunities. This includes access to practical tools developed by Jobs Queensland, as well as relevant funding programs, HR support services, training options, and guidance on attraction, recruitment, and retention strategies.  

These free resources and personalised support offerings are designed to help micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the agriculture sector build capability, improve compliance, and strengthen their workforce.  

“Building strong employment practices starts with having the right systems in place,” said QFF’s Industry Workforce Advisor, Kym Wessling. “It’s essential that agriculture is recognised as a professional and progressive sector, and that begins at the business level with good planning and support.” 

“It’s been a pleasure to work with Monique and the team at Paradise Orchards. They’re a great example of a forward-thinking family business, and their work is helping raise the standard across the industry when it comes to workforce retention and HR management.” 

The Industry Workforce Advisor program is supported and funded by the Queensland Government.

Please note the HR Support Grant through the Workforce Connect Fund is now closed. To learn more about the IWA program visit the project page here.