Federal budget 2024-25: Harvest trail scheme axed

A longstanding scheme connecting farmers with harvest workers will be axed in the federal government’s quest to find millions in savings.

A 26-year-old scheme connecting farmers with harvest workers will be axed as the federal government looks for millions of dollars worth of savings to pay for beefed-up incentive payments for apprentices and trainees.

The Harvest Trail Services and Harvest Trail Information Service will close on June 30 this year, saving the federal Department of Employment and Workplace Relations $47.3 million over the next five years and $11.1 million thereafter.

“The savings from this measure will be redirected to partially offset other government policy priorities in the Employment and Workplace Relations portfolio,” the 2024-25 federal budget reveals.

The scheme was set-up in 1998 to link up workers with employers in harvesting areas across Australia.

Mildura based not-for-profit organisation Madec operates the Harvest Trail Information Service and 12 of the 16 Harvest Trail Services in growing regions across Australia.

Madec’s website says in a single year, “our expert officers connect more than 15,000 job seekers with harvest jobs in specific crops, at no cost to workers or employers”.

Gavin Krake, who has managed the Harvest Trail Information Service for over five years, said there had been a decline in the number of employers using the service in recent years.

“They’ve found other means of recruiting, using labour hire contractors and social media,” Mr Krake said.

The National Farmers’ Federation called the axing of the scheme a “disappointing blow” to the workforce.

The federal government scheme also helps employers meet their legal requirements and provides education and training for workers.

Its shuttering comes less than a year after the federal government’s own inquiry into the migration system revealed the need for safeguards around farm workers given the significant and widespread wage theft and exploitation in areas with high levels of migrant workers, including agriculture.