Why Wool Matters
His Royal Highness, King Charles III, Patron Campaign for Wool. “It is abundantly clear to me that we need to make changes to the way
Latest news
Wear Wool – Not Fossil Fuel
AWI’s marketing arm The Woolmark Company this week launched a powerful marketing campaign highlighting to consumers that synthetic fibres are made from oil, whereas wool
Testing the Australian Wool Clip
This series of videos outlines the process of sampling, testing and certification of wool growers’ classed lots before sale either at auction or directly to
Natural Fibre On-line Connect Conference 2022
Natural Fibre Connect is an online conference taking place on 7-9 September 2022 for the alpaca, cashmere, mohair, and wool industries. As the effects of
Royal Agricultural Society of NSW Scholarships
The RAS Foundation provides scholarships to help rural Australians realise their potential through education, make a difference in their community and achieve their ambitions. To
Fashion School Students – View their Work
AWET Provides 30 grants each year to selected students in their final year at a number of Australian Fashion Schools. The students are required to
Australian Association of Animal Science 34th Biennial Conference
The 2022 AAAS conference program is being thoughtfully prepared to entice innovation and blue-sky thinking, and to pull our knowledge and expertise together to make
Sheep Producers Australia Leadership Program
The Sheep Industry Leadership Program is an online program designed to help build leaders for the future. This scholarship will support the development of leaders
Congratulations to Emma Pearson
Congratulations to ex-student from Tocal College, Emma Pearson, Grenfell on achieving Second place and “Silver Stencil” in the 2022 AWEX/TAFE National Graduate Wool Classer Competition.
Why Wool Matters
The International Wool Textile Organisation (IWTO) has been marketing wool via its “Campaign for Wool “. IWTO is certain that wool does matter. Find out
VET Scholarships – Cunderdin 2022
The Trust supports the VET sector via 15 scholarships, valued at $3,000 each, being made available per year to students attending institutions in this sector.
IWTO Channel
Keep abreast of the International Wool Textile Organisation’s activities via the IWTO CHANNEL on YouTube. From sheep to shop, IWTO represents the interests of the global
Wool biosecurity and traceability
Biosecurity and traceability is a high priority for the Australian wool industry. Australia has clearly defined emergency animal disease response plans and strong governance arrangements
Australian Wool Education Trust Annual Report 2020-21
The Trust produces a summary report of its activities each year. These reports are intended to advise the organisations responsible for the appointment of Trustees
New AWET Trustee
Ms Brenda McGahan has been nominated by WIA as a Trustee for AWET. The Australian Wool Education Trust is administered by 5 Trustees, 2 appointed
RASF Vocational Education & Training Scholarships
Applications are open for RASF Vocational Education and Training (VET) Scholarships, for study at registered VET institutions including TAFE and College courses on campus and
Problem Accessing Wool and Sheep Module Files
Update As of 4:00 pm Tuesday, 21st September this problem was resolved. It affected those who registered in 2019 or earlier. Problem accessing Wool and
RAS Foundation Rural Scholarships
RAS Foundation rural scholarship application deadline is approaching. Applications for a RAS Foundation Rural Scholarship close on 5 September 2021. The RASF encourages applications from
Sheep Producers Australia Recruiting for Board Positions
Sheep Producers Australia (SPA) is the Peak National Industry Body for the Australian Sheep Meat Industry. Based in Canberra, our purpose is to be a
34th Australian Association of Animal Science Conference
The 34th Conference of the Australian Association of Animal Sciences is scheduled for Tuesday 5th July to Thursday 7th July 2022 in Cairns, Queensland. The
VirtuWool – Delena White
Textile rating tools of the future must include responsible fibre consumption and be built on robust data or they will be blamed for causing more
Spotlight on Exciting Careers in Food, Fibre and AgTechnology
Are you keen to get into Ag or fascinated by Australian AgTech or both? Then the Australian Sheep & Wool Show’s Career and Technology Hub
Clever promotion by our friends over the ditch
The many attributes of wool as a natural fibre are neatly summarised in this contribution from NewZealand.
Wool Lab Goes Digital
Wool Fabric and yarn sourcing guide goes digital. “The Woolmark Company has launched the first edition of The Wool Lab Digital, a brand-new online platform
AWET Annual Reports
AWET’s 2020/21 Annual Report is available now.
The Trust produces a summary report of its activities each year. These reports are intended to advise the organisations responsible for the appointment of Trustees about the Trust’s activities during the calendar year. However, they are also available to the general public.
Copies can be downloaded using the links below.
From 2003 to 2012 these are based on calendar years. From 2012/13 each report is for the financial year and includes the Report, Financial Statements and Auditors Report.
UNE Wool & Sheep Modules 2022
Dr James Preston describes the courses available at University of New England in 2022.
James is one of the lecturers presenting these courses.
AWI/TWC On-line Resources
Learn About Wool
Australian Wool Innovation has developed, in conjunction with Australian teachers, the LEARN ABOUT WOOL website .
This flexible and interactive range of resources can be easily incorporated into everyday classroom activities and support the development of students in line with curriculum guidelines across key content areas, including science, history, geography, design and technologies, and business and economics.
Wool Introductory Course
The WOOL INTRODUCTORY COURSE is a 25 minute course providing high level marketing education.
Wool Appreciation Course
The WOOL APPRECIATION COURSE is a 3-hour course that looks at the fibre from farm to fashion.
At completion of this course you can gain your own Wool Appreciation Badge from Credly. This can be displayed on your own digital professional portfolio such as Linkedin!
AWI YouTube Videos
AWI has a produced a large number of VIDEOS PUBLISHED ON YOUTUBE, covering an extensive range of topics. These are excellent resource materials for educators, students, producers and other industry participants.
The Wool Lab
In 2010 (approximately) The Woolmark Company produced a physical collection of new and innovative fabrics. This is now available on-line.
The background for this innovation is provided on Woolwise.
Link to The Wool Lab Digital.
International Wool Textile Organisation
IWTO is the global authority for standards in the wool textile industry. Since 1930, IWTO has represented the collected interests of the global wool trade.
IWTO’s members come from all stages of the wool textile pipeline, from farm to retail. Through scientific research, wool textile education and knowledge sharing, IWTO ensures a sustainable future for wool.
IWTO’s website, www.iwto.org, provides information about its members, its programs and its events as well as other resources.
IWTO maintains a YouTube presence via its IWTOCHANNEL.
Primary Industry Education Foundation
The Primary Industries Education Foundation Australia (PIEFA) is a tripartite, not-for-profit company limited by guarantee, formed through the collaboration of the Australian Government, primary industries organisations and the education sector.
PIEFA is governed by a skills based board of directors and operated by a small secretariat. The PIEFA board is appointed for a period of 3 years and is selected by a panel consisting of member representatives and an independent chair.
PIEFA is a registered charitable institution with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profit Commission. PIEFA is independently audited annually with an annual report produced and made available to members.
PIEFA provides a credible and authoritative one stop source for primary industries educational information and resources to help build knowledge about this sector.
Livestock Library
The Livestock Library is an online or virtual library of information supporting Australia’s livestock industries. This resource was developed by the Sheep CRC and the Beef CRC.
It provides one-stop access to a wide range of Australian research publications, conference proceedings and reports on sheep and cattle research.
Benefits:
- Immediate on-line access to over 60,000 full text publications relating to sheep and beef production;
- Access to abstracts where the full text is not immediately available due to copyright;
- Key word search capability.
There are over 24,000 full text documents available through the Livestock Library Research Database. Most of these resources are conference papers or journal articles. The serial titles held by the Livestock Library are complete, starting with the first published issue of every title. In addition, a federated search capability allows users to simultaneously search the websites of all state Departments of Agriculture and Primary Industries, AWI and MLA and the Livestock Library Research Database, providing immediate access to over 60,000 full text publications relating to sheep and beef production.
Journal of Wool Technology and Sheep Breeding
When the Wool Technology journal was first published in 1954 by the University of New South Wales it was a unique vehicle for communicating technical information to sheep and wool industry participants. The journal also provided an advertising vehicle for Merino studbreeders and industry service companies in its earlier years.
Many journal papers were generated from the annual Wool Schools held at the School of Wool and Pastoral Sciences at UNSW. School staff and graduates have been responsible for much of the research in the sheep and wool industry with many School graduates taking up research and extension positions in CSIRO, State Departments, Universities etc.
The journal was published from UNSW, WRONZ and then UNE before it developed into the Internatonal Journal for Sheep and Wool Science.
When the journal(s) ceased publication in 2010 the then Editor, Professor David Cottle created an on-line archive using Open Journal Systems (OJS) as a platform. Subsequent to his retirement the management of this archive was transferred to the Australian Wool Education Trust.
Consistent with its approach to supporting wool and sheep education the Trust has made access to the archive open source to registered users i.e. available at no fee.
To access the archive use this link Sheep and Wool Journal.
Woolwise Overview
Woolwise provides access to resource material developed using funding provided by the Australian Wool Education Trust, or by the Trust in collaboration with other parties.
It is a repository for educational material developed by the Premium Quality Wool Co-operative Research Centre (CRC), which commenced in 1993 and wound up its activities in 2000, for the Wool and Sheep Industry CRC, which commenced in 2001 and wound up in 2008, and for the Australian Wool Textile Training Centre, in 2006 and 2007.
Woolwise was originally developed, using funding provided by the then AWTA Ltd Wool Education Trust, to provide an online presence for the Premium Quality Wool CRC while it was operating, but also to provide access to the educational material produced by the CRC.
When the CRC terminated the site ownership reverted to the Australian Wool Education Trust
The original website developed by the CRC for Premium Quality Wool has been retained within the current site in order to preserve the history of Woolwise and to acknowledge the people responsible for its creation.
The core parties of the Sheep CRC transferred ownership of the educational IP produced by the CRC to AWET in 2008. These materials are now available from AWET via Woolwise subject to specific conditions of use.
The Australian Wool Education Trust was established in 1998 by the Australian Wool Testing Authority Ltd. The Trust owns and manages Woolwise
As a result of this transfer the educational material provided on Woolwise extends beyond wool production, processing and marketing to include other aspects of the sheep industry. such as sheep meat production, genetics and sustainable land management.
The Trust has licenced this educational IP to the University of New England (UNE). It is the basis of a number of wool and sheep units delivered by UNE. This arrangement is unique for agricultural education in Australia. The courses are offered in external mode to students enrolled in UNE and other Universities within Australia. This “hub and spoke” model for education about wool and sheep recognises that it is difficult for any one University to maintain sufficient student numbers to justify such specialised courses within their Agricultural Science Degrees.
To facilitate the delivery of these units the Trust provides funds to:
• Support the delivery of the educational modules
• Provide scholarships at the undergraduate and 4th year level
• Subsidise the cost of travel incurred by external students attending workshops at UNE
• Compensate external Universities for any loss of revenue as a consequence of their students enrolling in the wool courses delivered by UNE.
Other Activities of the Australian Wool Education Trust
In addition to managing the resources developed by both CRC’s the Trust provides funding for a range of activities such as:
- Education programs for wool industry participants;
- Development of education programs about the Australian Wool Industry within primary and secondary schools;
- Scholarships for students undergoing wool education within the VET sector; and
- Grants to students in Fashion Schools.