Secure work, labour hire settings, and bargaining positions in the Bowen Basin

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 move quickly between sites and contractors. Where consultation is weak, the dispute tends to emerge later as a bargaining blockage, a work refusal event, or a contest over labour allocation.

Key themes to track:

• Labour hire and “same job” expectations: where labour hire is heavily used, the workforce expects a clear, defensible rationale. The legal and industrial climate is less tolerant of two-tier outcomes.

• Training and capability pipelines: if the local pipeline thins out, reliance on external labour grows, which brings accommodation, fatigue and roster stability risks.

• Consultation quality: mining workforces expect genuine consultation, not notifications. Where consultation is procedural only, disputes escalate earlier and harder.

Practical focus this month (for site leaders and HR/IR)

• Build a plain-English explanation of your workforce model (employees vs contractors) and keep it consistent.

• Pre-check labour hire arrangements against site rates and role equivalence risks.

• Treat training pipeline decisions as IR decisions, not only operational decisions.

• Run a “consultation integrity” health check before bargaining formalises.

Data Snapshot

  Reported resource industry workforce in the Bowen Basin (June 2024): 47,155 people.

  Workforce mix (June 2024): employees 19,340 (41%) and contractors 27,815 (59%).

Workers engaged in coal mining in the Bowen Basin (June 2024): 44,325 (94% of the workforce).

 Median weekly earnings comparison (Australia): Mining $2,832; all industries $1,741; accommodation and food services $1,300.

 (*data source: data.qld.gov.au & jobsandskills.gov.au)