Boggabilla agricultural safety advocate Rebecca Fing will take her research overseas after being named one of Nuffield Australia’s 2027 scholarship recipients.
Fing, from House Paddock Training and Consulting, wants Australian agriculture to move away from treating workplace safety as a compliance exercise and instead develop a culture where safe practices are embedded in everyday farm operations.
Her Nuffield study, Beyond compliance: How leadership and culture influence safety outcomes in Australian farming, will take her to farming communities in Japan, New Zealand and Scandinavia.
By examining regions with low workplace fatality rates, Fing will investigate how leadership and proactive safety cultures can reduce risks in agriculture and how those approaches could be applied on Australian farms.
Fing has spent two decades working with farming businesses and has visited about 600 farms during her career.
Her research comes amid continuing concern about deaths in the agricultural sector. While agriculture employs about three per cent of Australia’s workforce, it accounts for almost 30 per cent of workplace fatalities, according to information provided with her scholar profile.
Fing believes farm safety is too often regarded as important but not urgent. While farms are complex workplaces, she says unsafe behaviours can become accepted unless workplace cultures encourage people to call out risky practices and shortcuts.
Her scholarship is supported by AgriFutures Australia, which works to support the long-term prosperity of Australian rural industries.
Fing is one of four New South Wales recipients and 14 scholars nationally announced at Nuffield Australia’s National Conference at the Darwin Convention Centre.
Over the next 18 months, the scholars will undertake 14 weeks of international travel, investigating agricultural developments, global supply chains and emerging technologies before sharing their findings with industry peers across Australia.
Nuffield Australia CEO and 2015 scholar Andy Clarke said the latest group of scholars had the potential to address significant challenges facing Australian agriculture.
“Our new scholars embody the curiosity and drive that define Australian agriculture,” Clarke said.
“Their commitment to learning from global leaders and adopting innovative practices will help build on the world-leading knowledge we already have here in Australia, unlocking new opportunities, and strengthening primary industries nationwide.”
Each scholar receives a $40,000 bursary to support international research and travel, providing access to agricultural businesses, research institutions and policymakers around the world.
This year’s Nuffield conference is being held under the theme, ‘Beyond the horizon: leading agriculture’s next frontier’, reflecting the organisation’s focus on developing agricultural leadership and encouraging innovation.
“A Nuffield Scholarship enables farmers to explore global solutions, and return with new ideas that shape a more resilient, profitable, and sustainable future,” Clarke said.
“For 76 years, scholars have brought global insights home to Australia. Their research strengthens not only their own enterprises but the broader industry through shared learning and networks.”
Fing is joined by NSW scholars Kristen Clark from Tocumwal, Ellenor Nixon from Merriwa and Harry Tyson from Wagga Wagga.
Clark and Nixon are among five scholars nationally supported by the Australian Government’s Future Drought Fund, with their research focused on practical strategies to strengthen drought resilience.
“Drought resilience isn’t just an on-farm challenge, it impacts entire rural communities, regional economies, and supply chains,” Clarke said. “The drought resilience scholars will tackle these challenges head-on to ensure our sector remains adaptable and thriving.”
The 2027 scholars will join Nuffield’s international alumni network and share knowledge gained through their studies with Australia’s agricultural sector.
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