Current News

The Fair Work Commission has announced a 1.75% increase to the National Minimum Wage (NMW) following its 2020 Annual Wage Review. The increase applies to awards in 3 stages, which start from the first full pay period on or after:

• 1 July 2020
• 1 November 2020
• 1 February 2021.
 
The Horticulture Award falls into Group 2 Awards, which means that the increase to that Award will apply from the first full pay period on or after 1 November 2020. For anyone not covered by an award or an enterprise agreement, the new national minimum wage will be $753.80 per week or $19.84 per hour. For more information see https://www.fairwork.gov.au/about-us/. 

 If you are uncertain what you should be paying an employer, the Fair Work Ombudsman has a helpful Pay Calculator which enables you to directly calculate their pay rate based on level of employment. For the Pay Calculator go to https://calculate.fairwork.gov.au/ 

• National Landcare Program: Smart Farms Small Grants Round 4- Smart Farms Small Grants is an open, competitive, grant opportunity to support projects to increase farming, forestry and fishing communities’ awareness, knowledge, skills and capacity to adopt best practice sustainable agriculture. Closing date 9th October at 11pm. Click here for further information

• E-commerce and New Marketplace Transition Package- Assisting Victorian farmers and producers to transition to online markets and build business resilience and skills via grants to help pay the costs of: onboarding, online marketing and registration fees, freight and logistics, delivery fees, and online marketing support. Supporting producers and farmers to use online markets and marketplaces will make it easier and cheaper for Victorian consumers to support local farmers. A training program for farmers and producers will be provided as part of the package. Key online farmers’ markets and marketplaces will be contacted directly by the department about the package, but if you would like more information about support, please email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

• Funding for Women's Leadership Development: Horticulture Sector- A pool of scholarships are currently available for women in the horticulture sector to participate in a range of leadership courses. EOI's close 9th October 2020.  Visit the Women & Leadership Australia website for more information. 

• Food Safety Challenges in the Fresh Produce Sector- Tuesday 6 October from 10am AEDT, 12pm NZDT via Zoom. This webinar will address current food safety issues in the fresh produce sector: identifying risks; examining some recent outbreaks; reviewing developments in regulation; and discussing emerging issues. Register here..

• COVID-19 and your workforce; Guidelines for the food processing industry- Tuesday 6 October from 2:00pm-3:00 pm. In this webinar you will hear from Deon Mahoney, the author of this Guide and Craig Shadbolt from the NSW Food Authority on strategies to keep your food processing operation running and your workforce safe. Register here...

• Horticulture to Indonesia: Market Access Under IA-CEPA- 8 October from 2pm-3:30pm. This webinar, led by the Department of Agriculture, and Hort Innovation is designed to bring industry from both Indonesia and Australia together to learn about new horticulture trade opportunities under IA-CEPA. Participants will also be able to engage via a moderated discussion. Register here...

• COVID-19 Business Webinar - Cyber Security- Thursday 1 October, 11 - 11:45am. In this Victorian Chamber COVID-19 Business Webinar, Chief Executive Paul Guerra will facilitate a discussion with three well-renowned experts in cyber security. Alastair MacGibbon, Chief Strategy Officer at CyberCX, Eric Eekhof, Cyber security practice lead at Pitcher Partners, and Clare Gleghorn, CEO of Bastion Reputation Management, to discuss how you can protect your business, employees and customers from cybercrime. Register here...

With harvesting season approaching, farmers will soon be responsible for the health and safety of teams of people harvesting their crops. Some of those workers will be unfamiliar with the farms they are working on or how to work safely on the farm.  Many of those workers will be working with or in the same area as tractors and other vehicles putting them at risk of being hit or run over.  Many of those workers will be doing repetitive work which creates risks for musculoskeletal injuries including work that involves bending, lifting or working above their heads.  And with COVID-19 circulating in the community, it is important that farmers don’t bring infections onto their farms and that their workers are not exposed to COVID-19 in the course of their work.  Now is a good time to be preparing for staying safe and keeping the workers on farm safe during harvest before it gets very busy.
 
Here are some links to some information that you may find useful.  

• A reminder for farmers, owners and managers of their obligations to provide a safe workplace and give some tips on how to do that - https://www.worksafe.vic.gov.au/workplace-manslaughter-providing-safe-and-healthy-workplace-farm 
• Advice on managing coronavirus risks on farms and particularly when employing temporary workers https://www.worksafe.vic.gov.au/managing-risk-coronavirus-covid-19-exposure-agriculture-industry
• Some tips on reducing the risk of fatalities from vehicles (the number 1 cause of farm deaths) https://www.worksafe.vic.gov.au/workplace-manslaughter-some-steps-reduce-risk-death-vehicles-farms 
• Advice on reducing manual handling injuries https://www.worksafe.vic.gov.au/hazardous-manual-handling
• Information about the new workplace manslaughter law: https://www.worksafe.vic.gov.au/victorias-new-workplace-manslaughter-offences

WorkSafe wants to support farmers to provide safe workplaces. If you would like further support or information please contact Graham Phelps, Program Manager Agriculture Practice, WorkSafe - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Victoria has opted into the above program, however at this stage from our understanding only the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea are approved countries with Tonga and Fiji still in discussions to participate. This will form part of the solution for the upcoming harvest shortfall, however, workers will need to act now if they want to participate. Before being eligible for the program the following criteria must be met and addressed:

• You must be an approved employer under the scheme (can take up to 12 weeks currently) or use an approved employer – to register or apply click here
• Labour Testing needs to be undertaken to demonstrate that there is not enough local labour in horticulture
• The State must be able to manage the quarantine processes for the incoming workforce (it has yet to be decided how this will be funded)
• The State must be able to ensure that priority is given to returning Australian’s from overseas.
• The State’s Chief Medical Health Officer must also endorse the program and be comfortable with the quarantine processes.

There is a Seasonal Worker Regional Pilot program that is being run in the Goulburn Valley assisting smaller growers to meet harvest needs and attached is a flyer. You can also discuss your needs or questions with Miki Wilson who is the Regional Coordinator on (03) 54305601 or Mobile 0407 611 044.
 
View the Stock & Land article featuring Agricluture Minister, Jaclyn Symes

Click here for the Seasonal Worker Program Regional Pilot brochure