The Rural Adversity Mental Health Program (RAMHP) will be on hand at this year’s NSW Farmers Annual Conference to provide health checks for the most important asset on farm – the farmers.
Hundreds of farmers and agricultural workers will converge at Rosehill Racecourse in Sydney to discuss the importance of agriculture and regional communities at the NSW Farmers Annual Conference - Feeding the Future on 23-24 July 2024.
Servicing machinery, drenching cattle and fixing fences are all routine parts of keeping a farming enterprise ticking over. But when was the last time you stopped to do some maintenance on yourself?
The Rural Adversity Mental Health Program will be attending the New South Wales Farmers conference this year and are encouraging all attendees to invest in their most important piece of equipment - themselves!
RAMHP will be back again in partnership with the University of Notre Dame conducting free health checks for attendees, reminding all that maintenance of health is just as important as all the other aspects of farm maintenance.
At the same event last year, more than 300 health checks were conducted over the two days at the conference, which represented a little more than half of all attendees.
Hunter Valley-based RAMHP Coordinator, Matthew Milne, says that it's great to see so many people willing to get their health checked. We're using this opportunity to have discussions with people about the importance of physical and mental health. People understand their physical health pretty well, so our conversations here at the conference are helping people understand that mental health isn't scary, it's a part of what makes us who we are and it's an important part of our wellbeing to maintain."
Minister for Mental Health Rose Jackson said no matter where you live or what you do for work – everyone should have access to vital mental health services.
“We know a proactive and preventative approach is always the best way to address our mental health. This isn’t always easy, especially for people in regional areas. This initiative is a great way to start the conversation and take the time to check in.
For media opportunities call RAMHP Coordinator, Matthew Milne on 0437 989 044.
The Rural Adversity Mental Health Program (RAMHP) has 20 Coordinators based across regional, rural and
remote NSW who inform, educate and connect individuals, communities and workplaces with appropriate
mental health support and respond in times of natural disasters and adversity. RAMHP is a state-wide
program managed by Grand Pacific Health and funded by the NSW Ministry of Health.
