Every year, seasonal workers from Timor-Leste and Tonga play an important role supporting Tasmanian farms, regional businesses and communities.
For many workers, it’s also their first experience living and working overseas, often far from family support networks and in physically demanding environments. Yet many come from remote communities where access to first aid training and emergency healthcare is limited.
That’s what inspired a new partnership between St John Tasmania and Murakaei Farm in Northern Tasmania.
Over the past few weeks, workers have taken part in a specially designed Introduction to First Aid program focused on practical, everyday emergency response skills. So far, 65 workers have completed the training, with a final session still to come this season.
Participants have received first aid kits adapted for Asia-Pacific conditions, alongside tailored first aid guides designed for workers from Timor-Leste, Tonga and the Solomon Islands. The kits and resources were made possible through support from the workers themselves, Murakaei Farm, local Deloraine businesses, service clubs and church groups.
Importantly, the training has already been put into action, with workers recently using their skills to assist a fellow worker injured while playing volleyball.
The program is also part of a much bigger story.
For several years, St John Tasmania State Commissioner Carl Graham has been involved in supporting emergency care and first aid capability development in Timor-Leste. In 2024, Carl led a St John Ambulance Timor-Leste scoping mission involving hospitals, ambulance services, schools, health authorities and community organisations.
The mission identified significant challenges around access to first aid training, emergency medical equipment and ambulance capability, particularly in remote communities. It also highlighted the growing importance of seasonal worker programs between Timor-Leste and Australia.
Rather than focusing on short-term aid, the approach has been centred around sustainable skills sharing, local partnerships and building long-term community resilience.
That same philosophy now flows back into Tasmania through programs like the Murakaei Farm initiative.
By helping seasonal workers build first aid knowledge and confidence while they are here, the benefits extend well beyond the workplace. Workers can use those skills on Tasmanian farms, in accommodation settings and in the wider community, before taking that knowledge home to share with family, friends and local villages.
It also strengthens the connection between Tasmanian communities and the people who contribute so much to regional industries each year.
For St John Tasmania, it reflects a simple belief: community safety doesn’t stop at borders.
A first aid skill learned in Tasmania could one day save a life in Timor-Leste. And partnerships built through international outreach can help create safer, stronger and more resilient communities here at home too.
