Three grants for Victorian agriculture industry bodies have been announced to improve farm safety and support cultural safety and diversity for workers across the sector.
Minister for Agriculture, Ros Spence, has announced the grants totalling $1.25 million to the Victorian Farmers Federation, Gardiner Foundation, and Fruit Growers Victoria.
Ms Spence said the grants encouraged proactive measures to ensure the wellbeing of farmers and agriculture workers, while promoting diversity and inclusion across the sector.
“It is vital that we can continue to work alongside industry to combine our resources and expertise to enhance farm safety standards and farmer wellbeing and create a more inclusive environment that can benefit all,” she said.
The funding will help extend existing safety programs and contribute to new initiatives that will support cultural diversity in the agricultural workforce.
The Victorian Farmers Federation will receive $600,000 to support the continued delivery of its Making Our Farms Safer program, which aims to deliver free farm safety tools and services that are accessible to all Victorian farmers.
This includes the continuation of in-person farm safety advisory services and the development of a farmer mental health handbook.
The Gardiner Foundation will receive $610,000 to increase the engagement of culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities in agricultural regions.
Gardiner Foundation will match this investment, with $1.22 million going towards developing a regionally-specific approach to reaching CALD communities that can be replicated across the industry.
The project will focus on the Goulburn Valley and Gippsland regions, reflecting the labour demand in the dairy and horticulture sectors in these areas.
Fruit Growers Victoria will receive $49,402 to deliver farm safety videos relating to cool stores and working from heights in multiple languages targeting CALD workers, and a mental health webinar for fruit growers in the Goulburn Valley.
The Farming Safe and Well Program is part of the Government’s Backing Victoria’s World Class Producers to Grow commitment in the 2023-24 Victorian Budget.
This investment delivers on the government’s commitment to make the Victorian agriculture sector safer and to attract and retain new cohorts into the industry.
For more information about how the government supports farm safety visit the AgVic website.
