This award recognises small registered training organisations (RTOs) that offer a range of training products and services, and that demonstrate excellence and high-level performance in all aspects of vocational education and training.
Meet the finalists in the Small Training Provider of the Year category for the 2025 South Australian Training Awards – two exceptional organisations!
Proudly sponsored by the South Australian Skills Commission.
Ironwood Institute specialises in horticulture, agribusiness, and green-life education, contributing to pressing challenges such as food security, climate change adaptation, and reconciliation with First Nations people.
Ironwood offers monthly course intakes and inclusive training pathways to diverse cohorts, including school leavers, mature-age career-changers, First Nations learners, and individuals re-entering society after incarceration.
Spanning nursery operations, native vegetation, landscaping, and production horticulture, industry experience at Ironwood models green-life career pathways.
Ironwood works closely with employers to co-design and implement training that includes emerging areas such as digital horticulture and climate resilience, and promotes workforce capability, business productivity, and learner engagement. Tailored training and assessment are delivered on-site, and supported by phone or online check-ins and mentoring.
Learners graduate job-ready, confident, and equipped for lifelong learning.
Whether addressing skills shortages in nurseries, advancing technology in protected cropping, or furthering First Nations employment through land regeneration, Ironwood leads with purpose, innovation, and impact.
ARO College provides work-based, onsite, and decentralised training grounded in an understanding of socio-economic, industrial, and environmental issues affecting the communities where it operates. Flexibility in unit selection and delivery order improves access, particularly for regional, remote, and mobile workforces.
Programs are developed in collaboration with local industry representatives who validate learning and assessment content and prioritise elective units, ensuring learners gain the up-to-date skills in demand. ARO specialises in programs for the AHC Training Package such as Horticulture, Conservation, Landscape Construction and Design, Production Horticulture, and Sports Turf Management.
Adapting resources and delivery to support learners with varying backgrounds and abilities, ARO offers part-time and full-time schedules, as well as out-of-hours support. Study coaches with a Certificate III and current industry experience mentor learners remotely or in the workplace, support trainers in the field, and develop specialised resources, progressing toward a Certificate IV in Training and Assessment under ARO’s guidance.