Choosing resources for an AHC qualification.
A plain guide for RTOs delivering agriculture, horticulture, and conservation and land management: what the package covers, how a qualification is put together, how to check it is current, and what a resource can and cannot do for you.
What the AHC package covers
AHC is the national training package for Agriculture, Horticulture and Conservation and Land Management. Its qualifications run from Certificate I to Graduate Diploma and follow the work of farms, orchards, nurseries, vineyards, glasshouses, parks, sports grounds and landscapes, and the land and water managed for conservation.
Among the titles you will find cropping and mixed farming, dairy, pork and poultry production, shearing and wool handling, beekeeping, irrigation, pest management, arboriculture, permaculture, agribusiness, and On Country management. The qualification list on this site sets them all out by field.
How a qualification is put together
Every qualification is made up of units of competency. Core units must be completed by every learner. The rest are electives, chosen within the qualification's packaging rules, which set how many units are needed and where electives may come from. Some rules allow electives from other training packages.
The packaging rules sit on each qualification's page on training.gov.au. Read them before you choose electives, because your elective choice decides which unit resources you need. Check each unit for prerequisites too.
Choose electives for the work your learners actually do. A Certificate III in Agriculture delivered to dairy farm staff is unlikely to use the same electives as one delivered to grain growers, and the resources should follow that choice.
Checking currency and transition
Training packages are reviewed and updated. When a qualification is superseded, training.gov.au shows the replacement and whether the two are equivalent. ASQA sets the rules for moving learners across when a training product is superseded, so read its guidance before the change reaches your scope.
Always check the current release on training.gov.au before you enrol learners. Before you buy, match the resource's code exactly to the current code, and check the unit codes inside the qualification as well.
What each resource format contains
- Learning and assessment kit
- The learner guide, PowerPoint presentation, session plan, classroom activities and self study guide, together with the assessment pack (student), trainer assessment pack (marking guide), mapping for each unit of competency and assessment record tools.
- Assessment kit
- The four assessment parts: assessment pack (student), trainer assessment pack (marking guide), mapping for each unit of competency, and assessment record tools.
- Learner resources
- The five learner parts: learner guide, PowerPoint presentation, session plan, classroom activities and self study guide.
- RPL kit
- Written for each qualification and set out in stages, from an application form and information booklet through self assessment, a competency conversation, demonstration and observation tasks, and a third party kit.
- Vocational placement kit
- Tools to help assess practical skills in a simulated environment or an actual workplace.
- Training and assessment strategy
- A template you customise to your learner cohort and your training organisation.
- LLND kit
- Tools to identify and assess learners' language, literacy, numeracy and digital skills against the Australian Core Skills Framework, with assessor guides, marking keys, learner profiles and learning plan templates.
Documents are supplied in Microsoft Word so you can customise them. Unlimited student licence: deliver to unlimited students within the purchased licence conditions.
What your RTO still has to do
A resource is a starting point. Under the Standards for RTOs 2025, your RTO remains responsible for its training and assessment. Whichever resources you choose, plan to:
- contextualise the materials for your learners, your region and the enterprises they work in, including seasons, stock, crops and the equipment on site
- read each unit's assessment conditions, because many AHC units call for practical work with real plants, animals, machinery or chemicals in a workplace or a realistic simulated environment
- review the tools against the unit before first use, then validate your assessment practice and judgements, which sits at Standard 1.5 of the Outcome Standards
- implement well: trainers who know the material, the facilities the units require, and records of what you changed and why
ASQA's Standards for RTOs page explains what the regulator looks for. No resource can promise an outcome at audit.