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Safer farms for children

With accidents on farms claiming the lives of around 30 children a year in Australia, the Federal Minister for Health and Ageing, Senator Kay Patterson, today announced an $887,000 grant over three years to Farm Safe Australia to implement a package of measures to help rural families make their farms safer for children.

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11 December 2002

Safer farms for children

With accidents on farms claiming the lives of around 30 children a year in Australia, the Federal Minister for Health and Ageing, Senator Kay Patterson, today announced an $887,000 grant over three years to Farm Safe Australia to implement a package of measures to help rural families make their farms safer for children.

The Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Larry Anthony, launched the Federal Government's national Child Safety on Farms Strategy on behalf of Senator Patterson.

He said the strategy aims to identify effective ways that the farming community can address key hazards for children. Injury inflicts enormous distress on families and places a huge financial burden on the Australian health system.

"We all have a responsibility to try to ensure those injuries which are preventable simply do not happen, particularly to those most vulnerable in our society - our children," Senator Patterson said.

"To respond to the alarming incidents of child injuries and deaths on farms this Strategy aims to increase awareness about the importance of safety on and around the family farm by targeting the inherent dangers in some farming practices and potential environmental risks.

"These include, for children aged 0-4 years, drowning, usually in dams, rivers and creeks and for children aged 5-14 years, the key causes of death are from injuries caused by farm machinery, farm motorcycles, other vehicles and animals."

Senator Patterson said the Child Safety on Farms Strategy has been endorsed by all member agencies of Farmsafe Australia, including the National Farmers Federation, State and Territory Departments of Agriculture and the National Occupational Health and Safety Commission.

"Australian Health Ministers have designated injury prevention as one of Australia's National Health Priority Areas and have endorsed the National Injury Prevention Plan: Priorities for 2001-2003 which places a high priority on child safety," she said.

"The Child Safety on Farms Strategy, to be administered by Farm Safe Australia, marks a crucial step forward in raising community awareness about this important issue, especially as we are nearing school holidays when the risk of children being injured on farms is heightened even further.

"It is important that effective interventions, such as the Child Safety on Farms Strategy, are established to help prevent childhood injury and death," Senator Patterson said.

Media Contact: Sarah Higginbottom, Office of Senator Patterson 0411 405 341