Farming women often don't have access to the same opportunities as urban women, yet they have the potential to do great things for their families, businesses and communities. The VFF has a long history of strong support and acknowledgement for the work of rural women, with many of our past and present Office Bearers rural women.



The VFF and the Rural women's Movement

VFF involvement in the rural women's movement has been important to its successes. Members played a foundation role in the establishment of the rural women's movement in 1994 and 95 and in the subsequent activities of the various networks.

VFF has always played a supportive role in the advocacy work for the various Australian delegations.

• VFF Wrote and delivered the Victorian Farmers Federation Women's Strategy in 1998, the first women's leadership training run by any Australian farmer organisation,
• VFF Wrote and implemented the VFF Diversity Policy in 1999. The policy became the national model in the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation “Missed Opportunities Stage 2, Harnessing the Potential of Women in Australian Agriculture” 2002.

In 1994, Victorian women founded the International Rural Women's Movement. Building on rural women's networks established by the Department of Agriculture, the first international conference of women on the land and in rural communities was held in Melbourne, and the national rural women's organisation Australian Women in Agriculture was established the following year. VFF women were strongly represented.

Every four years since then, rural women have held a three day conference somewhere in the world, and Australia has always sent the biggest foreign delegation. At the last conference in Spain 160 Australians attended, including six official presenters.