National Centre for Farmer Health

02/11/2026

Last week National Centre for Farmer Health staff Jessie Adams and Kelly Barnes were part of the Western District Health Service (WDHS) Research and Quality Showcase, bringing together health professionals, researchers, community members and regional partners to share ideas and learn from one another.

Following this year’s theme of 'Collaborating for Better Health Outcomes', we joined a panel discussion to showcase research and quality projects happening at WDHS and across the region.

Thank you to WDHS for hosting such a valuable event. Events like this highlight the power of collaboration in improving health outcomes for people living and working in rural and regional areas. 👏

30/10/2026

📢 🎓 Scholarships still available to study Agricultural Health and Medicine in 2027!

Ready to make a real difference in agricultural communities? Apply for a scholarship to study the Graduate Certificate of Agricultural Health and Medicine at Deakin University – a qualification designed to improve the health, safety and sustainability of rural industries and communities.

Agricultural Health and Medicine focuses on the people who make agriculture thrive. It explores how physical, mental, social and environmental factors all shape the wellbeing of those who live and work in agricultural settings.

“Agricultural health and medicine is particularly important for health practitioners because it gives them the knowledge to ask their patients the right questions about their work environment. An occupational history can be the difference between solving a problem quickly and an illness having long term effects for the patient.” – Dr Jacqueline Cotton, Course Director.

The details 👇
🗓 Trimester 1, 2027 (Mar-Jul)
🚜 Includes a 2.5 day face-to-face intensive (location TBC)
⏳ Apply by Sunday 8 November
🔗 Learn more: https://farmerhealth.org.au/scholarships/

Western District Health Service National Farmers' Federation Victorian Farmers Federation National Rural Health Alliance Western Victoria Primary Health Network West Wimmera Health Service Grampians Health Motherland AgriFutures Australia NSW Farmers Queensland Farmers' Federation Agriculture Victoria

28/10/2026

🌟 Bringing farming communities together across Victoria 💚

From garden tours and creative workshops to family fun days, community groups are using their Look Over the Farm Gate grants to create meaningful opportunities for connection, wellbeing and support.

🌱 The Tablelands Community Centre hosted a Bushfire Recovery Garden Experience, taking community members from Ruffy in the state's north-east to Allowyn Gardens in Yarra Glen. The group visited a garden that has recovered and thrived following bushfire, providing a powerful reminder of resilience and hope, and showing how landscapes and communities can rebuild after adversity.

🎨 At the Sea Lake Neighbourhood House, Gathering Around the Table brought farming families together through food, stories and creativity. Across several sessions, community members collaborated on a mosaic project while connecting with one another and hearing practical wellbeing and mental health messages from guest speakers.

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 The Hodgson and Horseshoe Creeks Landcare Group welcomed residents from Everton, Tarrawingee and surrounding communities to their Meet Your Neighbours community day. A shared meal, children's activities and family-friendly games created opportunities for neighbours to connect, strengthen local networks and build a stronger sense of belonging.

These events are a great reminder that connection comes in many forms, and that small, locally-led initiatives can make a big difference to community wellbeing.

Applications for Look Over the Farm Gate grants are still open for events to be held by 31 December 2026. If you have an idea that could bring your community together, we'd love to hear from you.

👉 https://farmerhealth.org.au/look-over-the-farm-gate/

Agriculture Victoria

23/10/2026

👀 Our NCFH staff have been out and about at plenty of industry conferences and events over the last few weeks!

⚙️ Shifting Gears
Dr Jacquie Cotton attended the Agriculture Teachers Professional Development conference, hosted by Charles Sturt University in Wagga Wagga. Jacqui showcased our teacher-led resources, Shifting Gears, to encourage farm safety discussion in secondary schools.

"It was wonderful to talk with so many educators about how they can integrate engaging conversations and activities about farm safety into their classrooms," Jacquie said.

🩺 18th National Rural Health Conference
We were thrilled to have Anna Greene, Sally Cunningham and Jessie Adams present across a series of sessions during the NRHC conference last month, connecting with researchers, health professionals, community leaders and rural and remote health practitioners from across Australia. Our discussions focused on farmer health, rural mental health, community resilience and improving rural health care.

🦺 National Safe Work Month
Anna and Sally also joined a panel of female farmers who are redefining what success in agriculture looks like at the WorkSafe Victoria Harvest Ready workshop as part of National Safe Work Month. Through personal stories and experiences they explored how safety, leadership, wellbeing and business performance go hand in hand.

Keep an eye on our events page to see where we'll be next for 2026 👉 https://farmerhealth.org.au/events/

22/10/2026

⚠️ We had a great turnout to our recent information session exploring the risks, assessment and management of livestock needlestick injuries for farmers 💉

There are still places left for next week's evening session so don't miss out!

📅 Tuesday 27 October 2026 | 5.30pm-6.30pm

The sessions will be held in Hamilton, Victoria and are open to health professionals, service providers, rural resellers and community members interested in learning more about needlestick injury prevention and management.

Register: https://farmerhealth.org.au/event/little-prick-big-impact-understanding-livestock-needlestick-injuries-community-education-evening-session/

Western District Health Service Deakin University Austin Health Western Victoria Primary Health Network Zoetis

21/10/2026

Physio support, without the long drive. 🚜 💪

The National Centre for Farmer Health has partnered with Beyond The Clinic to help make physiotherapy and musculoskeletal pain management more accessible to farmers and agricultural workers across Australia.

Through Beyond The Clinic’s JointFit program, farmers and ag workers (anyone living regionally) can connect with qualified physiotherapists via telehealth, helping reduce the need to travel long distances for appointments.

Because when you’re working around the farm, finding time to travel for health care isn’t always easy.

📱 Access the App
🧑‍⚕️ Connect with a qualified physiotherapist
🚜 Receive care that fits around rural and agricultural life

The service includes AI motion-tracked exercises, Joint Health Profile screening, health coach text support (business hours), 6 months' app access and a downloadable progress report.

Find out more or access the service: https://farmerhealth.org.au/expanding-access-to-physiotherapy-and-musculoskeletal-care-across-australian-agriculture/

19/10/2026

Thank you for shining a light on the realities farmers face every day.

We're proud to join Jane Nursey, Michael Gordon, 'The Unbreakable Farmer' Warren Davies and Lachlan Quick in this discussion, sharing practical insights to help farmers prioritise their health and wellbeing.

🎙️ https://roadtoresilience.transistor.fm/episodes/farmers-emergencies-and-recovery

👩‍🌾 Farmers. This episode is for you!

Agricultural farmers and workers show up every day, regardless of the conditions or the challenges they have. They feed our nation and contribute billions to our economy each year.

In this episode of the Road to Resilience podcast, our expert guests discuss the realities of prioritising mental, emotional and physical health as a farmer.

It’s essential that farmers know how to take care of their wellbeing during hardship and the recovery that follows. Our industry experts discuss how recovery fatigue is normal. It’s a sign of how much people have been carrying.

Guests: Jane Nursey, Michael Gordon and Dr Alison Kennedy and a cameo from Warren Davies - The Unbreakable Farmer
National Centre for Farmer Health

Available wherever you get your podcasts! 🎧
https://roadtoresilience.transistor.fm/

13/10/2026

🌟 LOTFG event in the spotlight: A Night in The Hills 🎶

What impact could your event have in a local farming community?

Held as part of the Look Over the Farm Gate (LOTFG) community grants program, a Night in The Hills was a relaxing evening of connection, conversation and community in Victoria's Dookie Hills.

Nestled among vibrant canola paddocks in full bloom, the event brought together 66 farmers, businesses, families and community members from across the region to reconnect, share stories and celebrate the strength of rural communities.

Guests enjoyed a two course shared dinner, live music and lucky door prizes as well as the opportunity to hear a special guest keynote presentation from Legless and Blind.

Event organisers shared that A Night in The Hills successfully strengthened social connection, supported positive conversations around mental health and wellbeing, and provided an opportunity for the rural community to come together away from the pressures of work and farm life.

Attendees resonated with the guest speaker significantly and from there conversations flowed naturally.

Don’t miss the chance to support your farming community and get creative with an event that strengthens social connection and wellbeing. Apply now for funding to run a LOTFG event in your local community before 31 December!

Head to https://farmerhealth.org.au/look-over-the-farm-gate/

📸 Alicia Flegeltaub Photography

Agriculture Victoria

12/10/2026

Our team was out and about in the last few weeks delivering free Health and Lifestyle Assessments at events including Henty Machinery Field Days, Elmore Field Days & Events Centre and the Donald Show 🩺🚜

We've enjoyed connecting with farmers, catching up with familiar faces, and meeting many new people from near and far.

With plenty of visitors coming in through the gates, our team had a wonderful time meeting members of the farming community and providing valuable health support as well as conversations and connections.

At Elmore and Donald, health check participants were lucky enough to complete their assessment in the comfort of the Farmer Health Hub Truck, courtesy of our partnership with Fat Farmers 👏🏻

At Henty, the response to the farmer health checks was fantastic with our agrihealth nurse Jess Fletcher completing an incredible 50 full health assessments over the three days. The checks proved so popular that the team ran out of full assessment testing equipment and introduced mini health checks to ensure they could continue meeting the strong demand.

A huge thank you to everyone who stopped by, shared a chat and took the time to complete a health check. It was fantastic to see so many people prioritising their health and wellbeing.

If you missed out, you can still sign up for a free health check at Casterton Memorial Hospital on 28 October and 11 November 👉 register here: https://farmerhealth.org.au/events/

08/10/2026

⚠️ Needlestick injuries are common in the livestock industry, but many people don't realise how serious they can be. 💉

This month, join the National Centre for Farmer Health for two practical and informative sessions exploring the risks, assessment and management of livestock needlestick injuries.

📅 Lunchtime session
Monday 19 October 2026 | 1.00pm-2.00pm
Register: https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/not-just-a-little-prick-farmer-needlestick-injuries-lunch-tickets-2002482680603?aff=erelpanelorg

📅 Evening session
Tuesday 27 October 2026 | 5.30pm-6.30pm
https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/not-just-a-little-prick-farmer-needlestick-injuries-evening-tickets-2002483420817?aff=oddtdtcreator

The sessions will be held in Hamilton, Victoria and are open to health professionals, service providers, rural resellers and community members interested in learning more about needlestick injury prevention and management.

You can also find out more on the risks and recommended treatments for farmer needlestick injuries: https://farmerhealth.org.au/farmer-needlestick-injuries-risk-recommended-treatment/

Western District Health Service Deakin University Austin Health Western Victoria Primary Health Network Zoetis