Goal: zero workplace fatalities throughout the value chain (on farm and post farm gate). Close the gap between regional and broader community safety & wellbeing indices.

Target: zero fatalities, 30% reduction in serious injuries per five years.

Why

Improving safety and wellbeing has direct industry benefits. It can improve productivity, reduce costs, assist with workforce attraction and retention, and improve quality of life.

Context

The agricultural sector has one of the highest rates of fatalities and serious injury in Australia. Much work is being done to make the industry safer, but more needs to be done. Machinery, storage facilities and grain transportation are some of the main workplace health and safety risks in the grains industry. Mental health of farmers is an ongoing challenge for the industry. Through this sustainability framework, the grains industry will continue to work with other sectors to determine its role in improving mental health.

Data gap

Post-farm injury data for transport of grain products is not available as splitting out grain-specific safety data from all transport safety data is difficult. Post-farm wellbeing data is not available.

Goal: increased leadership capacity, diversity and skills development.

Target: to be determined based on industry workforce priorities and strategies.

Why

To achieve its ambitions, the grains industry needs a workforce with the right capacity and capability.

Context

The Australian grains industry employs a diversity of people and a range of skills, from on-farm labour to food science and marketing, and increasingly technology-based skills to support the rapid adoption of agriculture technology.

Data Gap

With the grains industry facing transformational technological, market, and environmental shifts, careful thought on a coordinated industry workforce strategy is needed to have a workforce to meet these changes. A National Agricultural Workforce Strategy is currently being developed. This will help inform a grains workforce strategy, and in turn be used to set indicators and targets for this sustainability framework.