Man dies in ATV Australia Day farm tragedy

A 78-year-old man has died while driving an All-Terrain Vehicle near Wangaratta on Australia Day.

WorkSafe Victoria is investigating after the death of a man at a North East Victorian property in an Australia Day tragedy.

Victoria Police said they will prepare a report for the Coroner following the death of a 78-year-old man in Boorhaman on January 26.

Emergency services were called to a farm on Boorhaman Rd, located 20km north of Wangaratta, at about 9am on Sunday morning.

Victoria Police said it is believed the man, from the Wangaratta area, was driving an All-Terrain Vehicle (ATV) before it rolled and sadly died at the scene.

The death is not being treated as suspicious and WorkSafe has been notified.

“WorkSafe is investigating,” a WorkSafe spokeswoman confirmed.

The Boorhaman ATV farm death comes after 52-year-old Lisa Ronson, the chief marketing officer (CMO) of Medibank, died while riding an ATV at a Ullina property, located about 150km from the Melbourne CBD, in November last year.

In the past year 64 people – including children – died in farm accidents across Australia, up from 33 in 2023, with both quad bikes and side-by-side vehicles over-represented in the figures, FarmSafe Australia chair Felicity Richards said.