{"id":962553,"date":"2026-11-13T03:48:17","date_gmt":"2026-11-13T03:48:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/962553\/"},"modified":"2026-11-13T03:48:17","modified_gmt":"2026-11-13T03:48:17","slug":"fifo-worker-advocates-warn-bare-minimum-standards-not-being-enforced","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/962553\/","title":{"rendered":"FIFO worker advocates warn ‘bare minimum standards’ not being enforced"},"content":{"rendered":"

With six years’ experience as a WA fly-in fly-out (FIFO) worker, Vicky Pellowe still remembers the creeping sense of loneliness at the end of a 12-hour shift.<\/p>\n

“If you have had any kind of challenge or if there’s anything going on at home, you are very much isolated with your own thoughts in your room,” she said.<\/p>\n

“It needs to be comfortable, clean and connected.”<\/p>\n

\"a<\/p>\n

Mining camps are often built up with demountable “dongas”. (ABC: Jessica Shackleton)<\/p>\n

As the Australian resources sector has exploded with year-on-year production records, advocates warn basic accommodation standards on remote mine sites are slipping.<\/p>\n

Ms Pellowe says the options range anywhere from extravagant camps to motel-style overflow to “donga” demountables.<\/p>\n

“In this day and age of 2026, we need to make sure that there are some regulatory bare minimum standards.”Draft code of practice<\/p>\n

Ms Pellowe, executive director of the FIFO Family Project, represents one of 50 organisations that submitted to the WA government about a draft code of practice for workers’ accommodation.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Vicky Pellowe heads the FIFO Family Project, an advocacy group she founded after working in the mining industry. (Supplied)<\/p>\n

The code outlined best practice for amenities, including deadbolts on doors, better lighting in outdoor areas, king-single beds and reliable Internet connections.<\/p>\n

Triggered in part by revelations of widespread sexual harassment on site<\/a>, it closed for feedback in June.<\/p>\n

The Department of Local Government, Industry Relations, and Safety says the code will receive final endorsement next year.<\/p>\n

Once the code of practice is in place, mining companies will not be legally bound to follow it, but it could be admissible in court if a hazard has not been properly managed.<\/p>\n

Ms Pellowe said there remained critical gaps when it came to connecting workers with their loved ones back home.<\/p>\n

She called for a mandated 24\/7 contact point for families to raise welfare concerns.<\/p>\n

“They can be a real part of the safety net if they’re included in these conversations about psychosocial wellbeing of workers,” she said.<\/p>\n

Over-reliance on ‘wellbeing washing’<\/p>\n

Architectural sociologist Jack Tooley, who also entered a submission, said mining companies had failed to connect the challenges to their bottom line.<\/p>\n

In a study published last month by journal Safety Science<\/a>, Dr Tooley identified a reluctance to grant access to outside researchers, a lack of trust in survey data and an over-reliance on “wellbeing washing” like swimming pools.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/p>\n

Mid-tier operator Mineral Resources built luxury-style Mungala Resort for its Pilbara workers in 2021. (Supplied: MinRes)<\/p>\n

Dr Tooley attributed 60 per cent of the psychosocial issues faced by mine workers to the built environment around them.<\/p>\n

“If you put 80,000 Australians into an environment that emulates a prison, the results are speaking for themselves,” he said.<\/p>\n

Modelling by Dr Tooley’s consultancy found simple improvements that lifted a worker’s experience to a “neutral standard” \u2014 things like a better bed or noise-cancelling acoustics \u2014 could generate about $1.6 billion in annual revenue.<\/p>\n

\"Plastic<\/p>\n

Some advocates say the disparity is growing larger between rudimentary camps and resort-style accommodation. (Supplied: Courtney Mason)<\/p>\n

The problem is not specific to WA.<\/p>\n

Erin Turner delivers mental health training at Queensland mine sites and says growing workforces mean FIFO workers often feel shunted from room to room.<\/p>\n

“What that means is that people can’t have their photos, they can’t have certain homelike things that they would usually have,” she said.<\/p>\n

Ms Turner said “creature comforts” were important to navigate the isolation and recover from long hours.<\/p>\n

Workers’ voices silenced<\/p>\n

Researchers from Edith Cowan University found employees in WA’s Pilbara region were scared to speak up about the issues.<\/p>\n

They approached 20 for in-depth interviews<\/a> across FIFO and residential rosters.<\/p>\n

Senior lecturer Heidi Vivian argued a wave of industrial action at BHP’s iron ore and port operations<\/a> earlier in the year was a reaction, having spoken with union-affiliated workers.<\/p>\n

“If the workers are actually afraid to speak up about health and safety hazards and psychosocial hazards in their work environment, then things will progressively get worse,” she said.\"a<\/p>\n

Research found basic improvements could boost workforce value significantly. (ABC: Charlie McLean)<\/p>\n

Dr Vivian said a culture of silence shrouded dissatisfaction with pay and conditions as well as allegations of bullying and harassment.<\/p>\n

A 2022 parliamentary report<\/a> found nearly three-quarters of women in mining had experienced sexual harassment at work and it was widely accepted as part of the job.<\/p>\n

Class actions have been launched in the Federal Court against BHP, Rio Tinto<\/a> and Fortescue<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“They’re asked to suck it up, toe the company line,” Dr Vivian said.<\/p>\n

“I believe that’s probably part of the reason that some of the organisations are in the situation that they are now.”<\/p>\n

A BHP spokesperson told the ABC the company recognised “FIFO work asks a lot of our people”.<\/p>\n

“We regularly review worker accommodation, services, and amenities across our operations and we welcome the input of our workers,” the spokesperson said.<\/p>\n

Rio Tinto said it refurbished 3,000 of more than 1,900 FIFO rooms last year, along with mess halls, showers, laundry blocks and gyms.<\/p>\n

Fortescue Metals Group was also contacted for comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With six years’ experience as a WA fly-in fly-out (FIFO) worker, Vicky Pellowe still remembers the creeping sense…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":962554,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[132728,6266,111954,57673,2582,20761,255251,73845,43,73846,37625,514,6827,44,16802,100000,13306,530410,37150,41,39,42,40,45],"class_list":["post-962553","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-accomodation","tag-bhp","tag-code-of-practice","tag-donga","tag-family","tag-fifo","tag-fly-in-fly-out","tag-fortescue","tag-headlines","tag-iron-ore","tag-isolation","tag-mental-health","tag-mining","tag-news","tag-pilbara-news","tag-remote","tag-remote-work","tag-remote-workers","tag-rio-tinto","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-wa-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/962553","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=962553"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/962553\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/962554"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=962553"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=962553"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=962553"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}