A new partnership between Charles Sturt University (CSU) and Dairy Australia is set to provide a new pathway for higher education in the dairy industry.

The new agreement will mean graduates of Dairy Australia's Repro Right Advanced InCalf Adviser Training will be eligible for advanced standing into CSU's Master of Animal Science.

CSU will also become the first university partner in the National Centre for Dairy Education (NCDE).

CSU Associate Professor Gavin Ramsay from the School of Animal and Veterinary Sciences said, the University had a strong reputation for delivery of high quality courses at undergraduate and postgraduate level in animal and veterinary science, as well as agriculture.

"We are pleased to be working with Dairy Australia and strengthening our industry relationships to further enhance our courses and provide access to them for professionals working in the industry," he said.

The Repro Right Program is a 10 month intensive professional development program on animal fertility and participants are typically experienced dairy veterinarians, artificial breeding advisors and other herd consultants.

They will now have the option on completion of the program with the NCDE to undertake a Graduate Diploma and then a Master of Animal Science at CSU.

Program Manager Animal Health and Fertility at Dairy Australia Ms Kathryn Davis said dairy farmers' access to highly skilled professional herd reproduction advisers around the country is assured by this development.

"Dairy Australia welcomes the opportunity for our advisers to have the skills and knowledge they acquire in our Repro Right program to be acknowledged by a university so well regarded in animal and veterinary science," said Ms Davis.

"The Australian dairy industry will benefit from the advisers applying their knowledge with the confidence that the university qualification supports."

Until recently, the NCDE, the Australian dairy industry's education system, has been exclusively an alliance of education providers in the vocational education and training sector. It now also conducts Dairy Australia's highly successful schools program 'Cows Create Careers'.

This partnership with CSU is the first in the higher education sector for the dairy industry.