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The Community Perceptions and Worker Experiences Program aims to deliver key insights into community perceptions on working in agriculture, fisheries and forestry industries, and explore worker experiences and the impact they have on workforce attraction and retention.

More than 5,000 people completed the Community Perceptions and Worker Experiences Program survey in 2022. Of those surveyed, 34% were current or past workers from across Australian rural industries, while 66% were community members. The participants represented all Australian states and territories.

Findings include: Workers are more positive than community members about the nature of a job in rural industries; 84% of the community think jobs are physically demanding compared to 63% of workers; 36% of the community think rural industries in Australia listen to and respect the opinions of their workers compared to 67% of workers; 67% of workers in rural industries are extremely or very likely to remain in the sector.

Further, 54% of workers intend on staying in the rural industries for more than 10 years while 2.5% intend on staying for less than a year; and 53% of workers say their expectations of working in the sector have been exceeded, 36% say they have been met while 11% have been disappointed.