25 July 2025
Farm Safety Week 2025 is a timely reminder of the importance of building safer, more resilient farming businesses, and of the role training and leadership play in making that possible.
Queensland Farmers’ Federation (QFF) has been using the week to highlight the importance of practical, farm-focused safety skills, delivered through SmartAg Queensland, an industry-led training initiative that helps Queensland farmers take action on safety every day.
While recent data shows some improvements in national farm fatality figures, Queensland continues to record more on-farm fatalities than any other state. At the same time, the number of serious injuries remains consistent year after year — a sign that more must be done to change behaviour, not just raise awareness.
The 2025 Safer Farms Report revealed a sharp and tragic increase in fatalities, with 72 lives lost on Australian farms in 2024 – the highest in more than two decades – following a record low of 32 in 2023. In the first half of 2025 alone, there were already 17 fatalities and 87 serious injuries.
QFF CEO Jo Sheppard said that farm safety week is a chance for all involved in the agricultural sector to take the time to think about how they can improve the safety culture in their business.
“Every farmer knows how quickly things can change. A close call, a wrong step, a moment of pressure,” Ms Sheppard said. “This year’s Safer Farms Report reminds us that while safety messages are being heard, they’re not always translating into safer decisions. We must go beyond raising awareness and look at how to shift everyday behaviours — with better planning, better conversations, effective systems and procedures along with less tolerance for the ‘near miss’ culture that normalises risk.”
SmartAg Queensland is helping bridge that gap. A collaboration between QFF and the Queensland Government and delivered in partnership with Queensland Fruit & Vegetable Growers (QFVG), Cotton Australia and Canegrowers, the program provides accredited and non-accredited training in safety, business, production and technology; including practical WHS skills that farm businesses can use right away.
In 2024–25, 2,653 farmers across 35 growing regions received safety training through SmartAg Queensland, highlighting strong demand from growers and agribusinesses to improve on-farm safety. Of all training delivered during this period, 84% focused on safety, reflecting Queensland’s clear commitment to safer agricultural workplaces and practical, skills-based learning.
“SmartAg Queensland has been tremendously successful in helping those working in the agriculture sector to access safety training. Across the sector we need more opportunities for everyone on farm to access support and resources to help make their farms safer places to work and live,” Ms Sheppard said.
QFF’s peak body members are also encouraging growers to make the most of the support available:
“Growers are frequently juggling a range of different and occasionally dangerous activities. The very nature of growing sugarcane requires the use of heavy machinery and appliances, which creates potentially hazardous situations,” CANEGROWERS CEO Dan Galligan said.
“CANEGROWERS is committed to ensuring our growers have access to information relating to how to provide a safe workplace. We will continue to work with QFF and SmartAg Queensland to provide practical and relevant training, information and on-farm tools to both encourage and assist our growers to remain aware and be in a position to implement safe farming practices.”
“We all must accept the reality that farms are an inherently dangerous workplace, and ensuring your workers, your families and yourself are safe is a responsibility that must be taken seriously. Farm Safety is not about ticking boxes; it must be about everyone on your farm putting safety first. It is particularly important during those busy times when pressure and fatigue significantly increases the risk,” Cotton Australia General Manager Michael Murray.
“Together, Queensland and New South Wales account for 75% of the nation’s on-farm injuries, with people aged 25–44 making up 46% of these incidents. With data showing that sharing safety stories can actually change behaviour, it’s critical we normalise engaging in conversations where instead of focusing on ‘luck’ that steered us clear of an injury or fatality – that we focus on the lessons learned from near misses. There wouldn’t be a grower who didn’t have a story – we must share them wisely and with intent to help others,” said Rachel Chambers, CEO of Queensland Fruit & Vegetable Growers.
QFF encourages all Queensland farmers to use Farm Safety Week to reflect on what’s working, what could be improved, and what action they can take now – whether through a safety conversation, a training opportunity, or a small change that helps prevent the next close call.
Media contact:
Jak Kirwin, Acting Corporate Partnerships and Communications Manager, QFF
E: comms@qff.org.au
M: 0488 305 106