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The agriculture industry are tackling farming workplace
compliance and exploitation in horticulture head on.

was this week in Melbourne at the national horticulture convention, .

The independent third-party auditor was developed by , the peak representative body
for Queensland horticulture, is a workplace
training and certification program for employers in the Australian horticulture
industry

Fair Farms Manager, Thomas Hertel said the program had
been developed by industry, for industry.

“The
program will support all members of the Australian horticultural supply chain
with tools, information and training to implement employment practices that
comply with existing labour laws and ethical standards,” Mr Hertel said.

“We want to work with the retailers and others fresh produce buyers on this, who can reward good practices through their buying decisions and create consumer awareness.”

Teaming up
with retailers

The Fair Farms program has
already received support from supermarket chains Aldi and Woolworths, who
accept suppliers choosing Fair Farms as their ethical audit program.

Woolworths Head of Produce, Paul Turner
said the supermarket was pleased to work closely with Growcom on the
development of the Fair Farms program.

“We’re committed to being a responsible retailer and a big part of this is working with industry to uphold the rights of workers in our horticultural supply chains,” Mr Turner said.

The first Fair Farms
certified grower

A highlight of the Fair
Farms launch was the announcement of the first Fair Farms certified grower,
Mary-Jane and Cam Turner from Riverdale Herbs in Queensland.

“As an employer it was important for us to
be able to distinguish our business from those that don’t employ ethically,” Ms
Turner said.

“We chose Fair Farms as our ethical audit
program because it was developed by Growcom. They have been supportive of us as
a grower and the wider horticulture industry for many years and we had faith
that the Fair Farms Standard would be a true reflection on a grower’s needs and
requirements.

“Going through the assessment and audit
process was a valuable exercise. It has allowed us to review our business
documents, modernise our systems, and consolidate our records.”

For more
information on the program visit the Fair Farms website: