Big questions about the health, wellbeing and safety of farmers, farming families and the agricultural workforce will be explored in Canberra next month.
The National Centre for Farmer Health is hosting a symposium in the national capital to highlight how governments and policy makers, industry bodies, regulators, workplaces and researchers can all play their part to improve our agricultural sector.
National Centre for Farmer Health Director, Associate Professor Alison Kennedy, said the symposium will emphasise the importance of every stakeholder collaborating to achieve positive outcomes for Australia’s farming communities.
“Our goal is to bring together leaders to share knowledge and generate action that will positively transform health, wellbeing, and safety practices in agriculture-dependent communities.
“Acknowledged leaders and specialists from across a variety of agricultural pursuits will be posing the questions and seeking the answers to many of the issues which confront farmers and their communities across Australia,” A/Prof Kennedy said.
On Wednesday, August 14, members of the public can attend the symposium which will focus on advancing health, wellbeing and safety in agriculture.
Across a day featuring keynote speakers, panel discussions and workshops, a group of national and international experts will discuss how the sector can work together for transformative action.
The symposium will be officially opened by Professor Faye McMillan, Australia’s first Indigenous community pharmacist, a Deputy National Rural Health Commissioner and Professor of Indigenous Health at University of Technology Sydney.
One of the featured guest speakers is Dr David Meredith, from the Irish Agriculture and Food Development Authority (Teagasc), who will join via video-link from Ireland. Dr Meredith is an international leader in his field with extensive expertise in understanding the complex social and economic factors that influence farmer behaviour and rural population dynamics.
As well as the guest speakers there will be two panel sessions, followed by an opportunity to network over lunch, and then concurrent workshops will round out the day.
In the first panel session, the discussion will be on the importance of integrating personal experience with evidence and appropriate local supports to improve mental health promotion and prevention initiatives.
Bringing their insights to this session will be Associate Professor Kate Gunn, as well as Sarah Crosthwaite and Justin Koschitzke.
A/Prof Gunn is a clinical psychologist leading a team of behavioural science-focused researchers at UniSA who work with the rural sector to co-develop meaningful, evidence-based solutions. Finding creative ways to improve farmers wellbeing, prevent suicide and improve rural cancer outcomes are her professional passions.
Sarah is a rural person at heart with a background in sheep and now dairy farming. This has resulted in a career as a rural outreach worker and the establishment of Open Road Counselling, a therapeutic service tailored for farmers, their families and farm workers. In 2023 Sarah was awarded a Nuffield Scholarship to understand how farming communities worldwide are being supported to improve their mental health and wellbeing.
Justin is a former St Kilda AFL football star and a mental health advocate. No stranger to farm life, Justin has navigated his own mental health challenges, allowing his insights to resonate deeply with the many rural communities he engages with.
The second panel session will explore the changing nature of the agricultural workforce and discuss current and future strategies to effectively address the health, wellbeing, and safety needs of a diverse agricultural population.
The panel members will include Mick Fuller, Josie Clarke and Felicity Richards.
Mick is a specialist risk management and safety executive who has experience Australia-wide, improving the health, safety and wellbeing of workers on farms and in associated industries. Mick is currently the National People Lead at Dairy Australia.
Josie is a founder of the Ability Agriculture Foundation which enables people with disabilities to enter or remain, thrive and succeed in agriculture. When father Glen became a paraplegic when she was just five, Josie saw first-hand the impact this had on her farming family. Now Ability Agriculture supports farmers with disabilities.
Among a multitude of roles, Felicity is the chair of FarmSafe Australia. A lawyer with policy and regulation experience, the call back to the land was too hard to resist. She also manages a beef and lamb operation with husband Mark on Flinders Island and near Launceston in Tasmania.
The two interactive workshops in the afternoon will allow a deep dive into the following topics:
- Collaborating for Safer Farmers: National interests and place-based approaches.
- How do we reach every Australian farmer? Conceptualising frameworks for scaling up evidence-based health, wellbeing and safety programs nationally.
At Parliament House the day before the symposium Federal MPs from all parties will be given an opportunity to hear first-hand about the farmer health, wellbeing and safety topics from the National Centre for Farmer Health team through a series of five lightning presentations.
These sessions will be introduced by the Honourable Emma McBride, MP, the Assistant Minister for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention and Rural and Regional Health, Senator Hollie Hughes, Shadow Assistant Minister for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention and David Jochinke, President of the National Farmers Federation.
The 90-minute session will also allow MPs to experience the Centre’s famous Farmer Health Checks – a service that is highly valued by Australian farmers and agricultural workers.
The symposium is supported by Deakin University’s Rural Health University Network, with sponsorship support from Dairy Australia and the Gentlemen of Geelong.
Registration for the symposium is still available by visiting the NCFH website at:
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For more information, please contact:
A/Prof Alison Kennedy
Director, National Centre for Farmer Health
P: (03) 5551 8533 | M: 0407 549 970
E: alison.kennedy@wdhs.net | W: www.farmerhealth.org.au
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