This year’s national winner of the AgriFutures Rural Women’s Award has been instrumental in tackling mental health challenges in the shearing industry
New South Wales shearer and mental health advocate Carol Mudford has been named the 2025 AgriFutures Rural Women’s Award National Winner for her leadership in creating safe spaces and practical support across sheds nationwide.
Mudford is the founder of sHedway — a national not-for-profit tackling suicide prevention and mental health in the shearing industry.
Since launching sHedway in 2023, she has delivered events across every mainland state, breaking down stigma and building peer networks to ensure shearers and wool handlers know they are not alone.
On top of the $15,000 Westpac grant awarded to each of the seven state and territory winners, Mudford will receive an additional $20,000 further develop her project.
“This is a profound honour and I am deeply grateful to AgriFutures and Westpac for their belief in my vision,” Mudford says.
“With this support, we can take sHedway into more sheds and more towns, making it okay to ask for help — and to receive it.”
The announcement of the award was made during a black-tie gala dinner at Canberra’s Parliament House, with the event bringing together more than 540 guests, including government officials, industry representatives, award alumni, finalists, and their families.
This year marked 25 years of the AgriFutures Rural Women’s Award, which is the country’s premier accolade recognising and supporting the vital role women play in rural and regional businesses, industries, and communities.
Western Australian finalist Isabella Thrupp was named National Runner Up for her project Prinking in Pindan, a clothing brand shaped by life on cattle stations in the Kimberley.
Managing Leopold Downs Station with her partner, Thrupp has fused station life with design to create clothing for outback realities, and she will receive an additional $15,000 on top of her Westpac grant to support the project.
The full AgriFutures Rural Women’s Award 2025 cohort includes:
- Carol Mudford, founder of sHedway (NSW/ACT)
- Nicole McNaughton, CEO of the Food and Agribusiness Network (FAN) (Queensland)
- Kelly Johnson, creator of SPhiker (South Australia)
- Kristy Hollis, naturopath and founder of Everlasting Health (Northern Territory)
- Dr Mary Cole, soil scientist and founder of AgPath (Victoria)
- Sarah De Jonge, founder of 1000 Hearts (Tasmania)
- Isabella Thrupp, founder of Prinking in Pindan (Western Australia).