Farmer Health Symposium 2024

The National Centre for Farmer Health is hosting a symposium in the national capital, to bring attention to the health, wellbeing, and safety of farmers, farming families and the agricultural workforce.

The symposium will emphasise the importance of stakeholder collaboration—including industry bodies, regulators, workplaces, researchers, government and policy makers. 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.

Join us for a morning of shared insights and discussion as the National Centre for Farmer Health and our partners explore opportunities for effectively advancing farmer health, wellbeing and safety:

• Panel Session 1: ‘It’s more than just a powerful story’ – Balancing the value of lived experience with evidence to improve mental health in agriculture-dependent communities.
  In this session, we will discuss the importance of integrating personal experience with evidence and appropriate local support to improve mental health promotion and prevention initiatives.

• Panel Session 2: Effectively supporting the health, wellbeing and safety needs of a diverse and changing population.
  In this session, we will explore the changing nature of our agricultural workforce and discuss current and future strategies to effectively address the health, wellbeing, and safety needs of a diverse agricultural population.

Special guests – to be announced soon!

Connect and continue conversations with key national stakeholders over a delicious networking lunch.

Join us for an afternoon of interactive workshops (spaces limited), providing opportunity for leaders to share knowledge, network and contribute to discussions of national and place based interest:

• Collaborating for Safer Farmers: National interests and place-based approaches.
  This workshop will focus on the current, future and possible collaborations for research and prevention in farm safety. This will involve participants contributing to an overview of current approaches in injury and fatality prevention and discussion on what is required and opportunities for future collaboration, influence and action. This workshop will bring together researchers, policy makers, data experts, industry stakeholders and innovators.

• How do we reach every Australian farmer? Conceptualising frameworks for scaling up evidence-based health, wellbeing and safety programs nationally
  This workshop invites farming community members, health and agriculture professionals, researchers and policy makers to come together to highlight gaps and opportunities for evidence-based national program delivery and contribute to a 360 degree examination of what is needed to make this happen. Areas of consideration will include workforce requirements (including training/education), the role of industry, opportunities for partnership, evaluation, farmer engagement strategies and follow-up support needs.

This symposium represents a critical opportunity for multidisciplinary and multi sector stakeholders to come together, share insights, and develop strategies to transform farmer the health, wellbeing, and safety of farmers, farm workers and the agriculture-dependent communities.    

This event is supported by Deakin University’s Rural Health University Network, Dairy Australia and Gentlemen of Geelong.

Registration information

• Early Bird Registration: $99 (available until 30 June)
• Regular Registration: $150 (after 30 June, until sold out)