WorkSafe marks 25 seasons backing country football
18 Mar 2026•BlueSafe Team•Source: WorkSafe VIC
WorkSafe Victoria’s Country Club Series is entering its 25th season, with the opening event at Mount Beauty Recreation Reserve on Saturday 28 March. The program has visited 133 local clubs across Victoria since 2002.
Dederang-Mt Beauty will take on Mitta United at the season’s opening event. Through its annual Country Club Series, WorkSafe co-hosts community activities, workshops, training nights and match day celebrations.
WorkSafe Chief Health and Safety Officer Sam Jenkin said the milestone demonstrated the organisation’s long-running commitment to the safety of regional Victorians at work and in their sporting communities. He said many people who play or volunteer at country football clubs also work in high-risk industries during the week.
“Through our club visits, safety grants and community activations, we’re reinforcing a simple message – working safe is a team sport, and WorkSafe is here to help you so you can keep doing the things you love outside work like playing, coaching and supporting your local club.”
Over the course of the partnership, WorkSafe has awarded 192 Club Safety Fund improvement grants. The funding has helped clubs improve facilities and make them safer for players, volunteers and supporters.
Its annual Footy’s Favourite Farmer competition also recognises farmers’ contributions to country football and their communities. The competition offers the chance to win thousands of dollars in safety upgrades for clubs and farms.
Former AFL premiership player and WorkSafe ambassador Tom Boyd described country football and netball as central to rural Victorian life, bringing farming communities together each week. He said Country Club Week events showed how farmers support one another by discussing problems and sharing solutions, and why protecting the people behind regional clubs matters.
Head of AFL Victoria Greg Madigan thanked WorkSafe for supporting country football for more than two decades. He said the sport had changed considerably since 2002, particularly through growth in participation by women and girls, and acknowledged the partnership’s contribution to safety, education and resources.
Further Country Club Weeks are planned for Warracknabeal, Tarwin Lower, Orbost, Hawkesdale and Koroit in 2026.