The VFF has scored a major victory for farm safety.
Premier Daniel Andrews announced a $6 million quad bike safety rebate scheme at the VFF Conference last Friday.
This initiative is a breakthrough in protecting farmers’ lives.
The VFF had lobbied the government vigorously to offer farmers an incentive to upgrade their farm safety measures.
Quite simply, the death toll from quad bike accidents on farms is completely unacceptable.
In 2015, there were 22 fatalities across Australia, including six in Victoria.
There’s already been another two quad bike deaths in Victoria this year.
As such, it’s great to see the government take action on this problem.
The VFF first called for a rebate on the fitting of operator protective devices in a pre-budget submission to the state government in February.
This followed WorkSafe Victoria’s announcement that it considered operator protective devices to be “an appropriate means of reducing risks when quad bikes are used in the workplace”.
Since then, WorkSafe has been developing a quad bike risk assessment tool to help the state’s farmers measure the possibility of a rollover.
While the assessment tool has not been released, early indications are that in nearly all cases it will lead to the conclusion that there is a risk.
Meaning that an operator protective device should be fitted or the quad bike replaced with a side-by-side vehicle.
Under the government’s scheme, Victorian farmers will be offered a $600 rebate on the purchase of a quad bike rollover protection device.
This will be capped at two (totalling $1200) per farm.
Alternatively, farmers will be able to choose to claim a maximum rebate of $1200 towards the cost of purchasing a side-by-side vehicle.
The VFF has always prioritised farm safety and we will administer the rollout of the rebate scheme.
At this stage, we expect to have it up and running by the end of August.
Eligibility criteria and the application process are being finalised in partnership with WorkSafe.
Watch this space.