Beyond Traditional Services: Back On Track, A Peer-Guided Mental Health Model For Australian Farmers.
Tracks
Monarch
| Thursday, November 5, 2026 |
| 11:15 AM - 11:45 AM |
Overview
Lucinda Star, Western District Health Service
Three Key Learnings
1. Embedding lived experience of farming into mental health support programs builds trust, relevance, and engagement—among those delivering and participating in the program.
2. Partnering with local stakeholders is critical for building credibility, strengthening recruitment and referral pathways, and supporting participant recruitment.
3. Flexible delivery—including a blend of face-to-face and digital—is essential to accommodate varying levels of digital literacy, geographic isolation, and the demanding, unpredictable nature of farming work, thereby enhancing accessibility and sustained engagement.
Presenter
Ms Lucinda Star
Research Assistant
Western District Health Service
Beyond Traditional Services: Back On Track, A Peer-guided Mental Health Model For Australian Farmers.
Presentation Overview
Farmers in Australia experience disproportionately high suicide rates despite lower engagement with traditional mental health services. Barriers include geographic isolation, stigma, and limited access to culturally relevant care, underscoring the need for innovative service pathways.
Back-on-Track is a co-designed model of mental health support, training trusted local coaches to deliver Behavioural Activation (BA)—an evidence-based intervention for depression—within a structured, peer-guided framework. Significant foundations were developed, including co-design with farming communities, development of a coaching manual and participant resources, establishment of governance structures, and comprehensive training and supervision programs.
A feasibility trial (RCT) across three Victorian dairy farming regions has now been conducted. Coach recruitment, training, and retention targets were met. Participant numbers were lower than anticipated. However, higher than expected conversion from expressions of interest to participation indicates strong acceptability once initial engagement was established. This was further supported by a 92% intervention completion rate. Strategies for consistent delivery of required program components requires strengthening in future rollout.
Key learnings:
1. Embedding lived experience of farming into mental health support programs builds trust, relevance, and engagement—among those delivering and participating in the program.
2. Partnering with local stakeholders is critical for building credibility, strengthening recruitment and referral pathways, and supporting participant recruitment.
3. Flexible delivery—including a blend of face-to-face and digital—is essential to accommodate varying levels of digital literacy, geographic isolation, and the demanding, unpredictable nature of farming work, thereby enhancing accessibility and sustained engagement.
Back on Track represents a novel, scalable model that has moved beyond concept to real-world testing, offering a practical and culturally responsive pathway for rural mental health service delivery, with work now commencing to support broader national implementation.
Back-on-Track is a co-designed model of mental health support, training trusted local coaches to deliver Behavioural Activation (BA)—an evidence-based intervention for depression—within a structured, peer-guided framework. Significant foundations were developed, including co-design with farming communities, development of a coaching manual and participant resources, establishment of governance structures, and comprehensive training and supervision programs.
A feasibility trial (RCT) across three Victorian dairy farming regions has now been conducted. Coach recruitment, training, and retention targets were met. Participant numbers were lower than anticipated. However, higher than expected conversion from expressions of interest to participation indicates strong acceptability once initial engagement was established. This was further supported by a 92% intervention completion rate. Strategies for consistent delivery of required program components requires strengthening in future rollout.
Key learnings:
1. Embedding lived experience of farming into mental health support programs builds trust, relevance, and engagement—among those delivering and participating in the program.
2. Partnering with local stakeholders is critical for building credibility, strengthening recruitment and referral pathways, and supporting participant recruitment.
3. Flexible delivery—including a blend of face-to-face and digital—is essential to accommodate varying levels of digital literacy, geographic isolation, and the demanding, unpredictable nature of farming work, thereby enhancing accessibility and sustained engagement.
Back on Track represents a novel, scalable model that has moved beyond concept to real-world testing, offering a practical and culturally responsive pathway for rural mental health service delivery, with work now commencing to support broader national implementation.
Biography
Lucinda works as a Research Assistant at the National Centre for Farmer Health, based in Hamilton, Victoria. Growing up on a mixed cropping and livestock farm in the Western Riverina, she is well aware of the difficulty in accessing medical, health and wellbeing services in rural areas. Lucinda is passionate about increasing equity and provision of mental health and physical services to farmers and communities Australia-wide.
