THE National Centre for Farmer Health (NCFH) and Deakin University are running a study to investigate the way behaviours, attitudes and lifestyles on Victorian farms are contributing to farm-related injuries in children.

For the past 20 years, the injury rate of Australian farming children has refused to come down, despite ongoing safety campaigns and horror stories of injuries and fatalities.

The subject is the target of a major research project that is missing just one thing: the voice of farm children.

NCFH researcher and Deakin University PhD candidate, Jessie Adams is looking for the participation of rural Victorian children aged 5-14 years, and their parents.

"Everyone should be concerned about the injury rate not shifting after all this time – particularly as these injuries can be largely preventable,” she said.

"There is a romantic view that farms are healthy, safe places for children to grow and develop.

"Which they can be, they should be, but they must also be seen as what they really are – work environments with hazards and dangers that are not seen in urban Australia.”

Ms Adams grew up on a farm herself in the north-east of Victoria, and apart from breaking her arm falling off a horse, was thankful she never experienced anything more serious.

“It’s such a nice way to grow up but … I was unaware of the risks – that I was living in a maybe more dangerous place than people living in town,” she said.

After doing her undergraduate studies in Melbourne, she landed a job in Hamilton at the NCFH in 2018.

“This topic just became an interest because I learned about the injury rates on farms and how it has the highest fatality rate of workers per number of workers,” Ms Adams said.

“Farms are unique because families live on them which is not like any other workplace.

“Regional, rural and remote children are three times more likely to be injured and children represent about 15 per cent of all farm-related fatalities.

"By investigating the common behaviours, attitudes and lifestyles on Victorian farms we will be able to come up with a tangible assessment of what might be causing these problems.”

Ms Adams said participation in this research can be done from home/farm and does not require any travel or extensive time commitments.

"We know being involved in the daily work schedule of the family farm is also an accepted part of life in rural Australia – and always has been,” she said.

"But Australian research is yet to understand children’s exposure to occupational hazards, their risk-taking behaviours or to what extent common safety measures are being used on farms.

"This study will give us important insights into the context of children’s experiences on Victorian farms and help develop targeted ways to prevent fatal and non-fatal child injuries.”

Ms Adams said the project needed children in that 5-14 age range, who live on a farm or have visited one at least twice in the past 12 months, as well as their parents.

Participating will involve the completion of an online survey, the first half for parents while children will fill in the second section.

“It takes around 15 to 20 minutes and the child’s one is a bit shorter, but I send that link after,” Ms Adams said.

"The contributions of parents and children will be essential – and invaluable – in assisting to reduce child farm-related injuries.”

Participation in the research closes on March 31 and the more children engaging in the study, the more relevant the findings and recommendations will be.

Please visit bit.ly/3JjsIGF to find out more information and access the survey.