Agriculture Victoria is investing in more health checks and referrals to encourage farmers and their families to prioritise their health and wellbeing.
Injuries and poor health can impact the whole family and can compromise business productivity and profitability.
The Victorian Government is delivering on a commitment to improve farmer health by investing $400,000 to deliver more health checks and improve referrals for farmers.
The project is being rolled out across Victoria by experienced health clinicians from the National Centre for Farmer Health (the Centre) and partner organisations.
Since the program commenced in 2020, almost 200 health checks have taken place at field days, community events, and through selected health services.
The project will also see the Centre increase the number of clinics and services available across Victoria, train more health clinicians, develop protocols to support the expansion of existing effective health programs, and identify locally accessible referral pathways.
Agriculture Victoria's Acting Executive Director Agriculture Policy, Dr Julie Simons, said given many rural communities rely on agriculture as the main industry, investing in farmer health provides multiple benefits.
"Investing in a healthy and safe rural sector means a more resilient rural Victoria," said Dr Simons.
Based in Hamilton, the Centre is a national leader in farmer health, wellbeing and safety and is best placed to extend the reach of its existing 20-minute farmer Health and Lifestyle Assessments and 90-minute AgriSafeTM Clinics.
"This funding recognises that human resources are the number one asset on farms, and we're excited with the opportunity to expand our existing health programs so that more farmers and farming families can prioritise their health," said Cecilia Fitzgerald, Business Development and Industry Engagement manager at the Centre.
Farmers, farm workers and farming families are encouraged to take charge of their health and book in for a free AgriSafeTM health check today:
Hamilton
Western District Health Service
McKellar House
Tyers Street, Hamilton VIC 3300
