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summary In July 2025, the Fair Work Commission made a landmark set of findings that required regulated labour hire arrangement orders to be made in relation to labour hire workers performing work at three Queensland coal operations run through the BMA structure. For North Queensland IR and HR teams, the case is a practical roadmap for how the Commission will assess “service contractor” arguments, and what evidence will carry weight when a site is operationally integrated. The

January in sugar is typically about wet-season planning, maintenance execution and preparing the workforce to transition back to peak operational demand. IR risk in this period usually comes from disconnects between maintenance scheduling expectations and workforce capacity, particularly where contractors are prominent or where fatigue controls are not practical. The higher-risk IR moments in January are often: last-minute schedule changes without consultation, disputes about

This special bulletin is designed to give North Queensland employers a simple read on what the macro indicators are saying about workforce conditions. It is not a substitute for industry-specific bargaining strategy, but it is useful context for wage expectations, attraction/retention and dispute risk. The key takeaway is that labour demand remains elevated compared with pre‑pandemic levels, but it has softened from the peak. At the same time, wage growth remains material and

December in North Queensland mining is where fatigue, weather, and planned work all collide. Shutdowns and high contractor utilisation can bring productivity outcomes, but they also elevate IR exposure when consultation is not properly managed or where workforce expectations are unclear. In practical terms, the disputes that hurt most are avoidable. They typically emerge from: unclear allocation of work between employees and contractors, weak consultation on changed work patt

November is often when the supply chain reality becomes clearer: cargo windows tighten, contractors are heavily utilised, and the “single-point failure” roles become obvious. In ports, this is where IR risk tends to show up as disputes about staffing levels, overtime allocation, contractor substitution and task sequencing. What matters from an IR management perspective is being able to demonstrate that decisions are: consultative where required, consistent with operational ri

Tourism and hospitality in North Queensland sits at the intersection of seasonality, high turnover and thin margins. From an IR perspective, the risk is rarely just “wages are going up”. The bigger risk is operational: inconsistent hours, casual-heavy workforces, compliance mistakes under pressure, and disputes that start as rostering frustration but end up as formal complaints. Key themes for October: Casualisation and conversion : where most employees are casual, conversion

The sugar sector’s IR settings are shaped by seasonality and operational intensity. When the crush is underway, the workforce experience is defined by long shifts, fatigue controls, maintenance pressures and the practical limits of “just do more” approaches. Where disputes arise, they typically start as operational issues: hours, call-ins, staffing levels, contractor control, or the practical meaning of consultation when plans change quickly due to weather or milling constrai

In North and Central Queensland mining, IR risk is increasingly shaped by the interaction between secure work expectations, contractor utilisation and the operational need to maintain production continuity. The workforce lens is simple: “who carries the risk” when markets shift, projects change, or skills shortages hit. For operators, the core challenge is that industrial settings rarely stay siloed. Pay outcomes, labour hire arrangements and security-of-employment claims mov

North Queensland ports continue to operate as high‑consequence, multi‑employer environments where industrial settings can change quickly. The practical issue for operators is not just the volume of trade moving through the region, but the operational reality that critical roles are exposed to fatigue risk, weather disruption, contractor interfaces and competing wage signals from other industries. From an IR perspective, the most consistent pressure points are: Rostering and f