Young cherry farmer backs financial freedoms for backpackers as national jobs summit looms

It comes as preparations ramp up for the national Jobs and Skills Summit set to be held in Canberra on September 1 and 2.

The summit will see representatives from unions, business, civil society and governments unite to address the current economic challenges facing Australia.

IN OTHER NEWS:

In the lead up to the event, the National Farmers Federation released a report addressing the challenges currently being faced by the industry and offering 40 recommendations to address these.

However the Australian Workers Union took issue over reports the NFF was proposing to take "non-monetary benefits" into account when making deals with workers.

It's understood these deals could include accommodation, electricity, food and fuel.

"The days of vulnerable workers being 'paid' with food instead of money should be long behind us," AWU national secretary Daniel Walton said.

Mr Walton acknowledged while some jobs in remote locations require employers to provide accommodation and life essentials.

"At no point, however, should this necessary provision of essentials be considered some kind of 'service' for which workers are expected to forgo pay," he said.

But NFF CEO Tony Mahar has denied the federation is advocating anything underhand.

"It's not legal to negotiate a base rate of pay below the award rate, and we're not proposing to change that," Mr Mahar said.

"The intent is to create an overall package that's more attractive than the award.

"At the moment, farmers default to using the award system, because negotiating an enterprise agreement is complex and inflexible.

"It doesn't work for small businesses, or for the unique circumstances of remote farming businesses.

"We want to make that system more user friendly, including allowing employers to reflect non-monetary entitlements like food and accommodation in the agreement.

"These are important benefits for people working in remote locations and ought to be captured in their agreement."

Young cherry farmer Scott Coupland agrees, but says workers must be given financial freedom.

"What's most important is that workers be given a choice," Mr Coupland said.

"They can choose to stay on a person's farm or some other accommodation system or not."

But Mr Coupland said workers also need to respect their employers.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: