AMMA urges a sensible policy approach to federal FIFO inquiry

Resource industry employer group Australian Mines and Metals Association (AMMA) has addressed the federal government’s inquiry into fly-in, fly-out (FIFO) workplace practices, as executive director, industry services, Minna Knight reaffirmed the importance of FIFO to one of Australia’s strongest industries.

“With more than $500 billion worth of resource projects either committed or awaiting approval and an estimated creation of 90,000 new jobs within the next few years, resource employers must be allowed to continue using FIFO and other flexible workforce strategies,” Knight said.

“FIFO is vital if Australian resource employers are to find the workers they need to deliver the economic and employment benefits of these new projects. These arrangements are at the very fabric of a robust national resource industry, in a country where our rich natural resources are located in some of the most remote and unpopulated landscapes in the world.

“If the Committee is to make any recommendations, it should be that greater collaboration between the local, state and federal governments, on regional infrastructure and services, would assist in attracting more people to regional areas that are heavily reliant on FIFO workers.

“There are many rural towns across Australia that were built off the back of previous mining booms and that proud history of regional development is engrained in our national resource industry. Australia’s resource employers are heavily involved in local communities and actively support healthcare, education and other social services providers within those regions they operate.

“By supporting a large number of organisations such as the Royal Flying Doctor Service, FIFO Families and the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia, to name just a few, the resource industry remains dedicated to improving the lives of people in those regional communities.

“We welcome the opportunity to address this federal Inquiry into how FIFO practices are being used in the national industry and are certain the Committee will discover just how integral these arrangements are to resources operations, not just to the employers but also to hundreds of thousands of Australian workers.”

In her address to the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Regional Australia, AMMA senior workplace policy adviser Lisa Matthews detailed key areas of AMMA’s written FIFO submission.

“Demand for skilled workers in the resource industry is at an all-time high and is far outstripping predictions made by the National Resources Sector Employment Taskforce (NRSET) back in 2010,” Matthews said.

“FIFO working arrangements are undoubtedly helping to ease the effects of the current critical skills shortage and should be supported as part of a range of responses to the industry’s demand for skilled labour.

“There is a need for sensible policymaking from all levels of government in this area and a broader [understanding] of the integral role that FIFO plays in bringing Australian resource projects to life.”

AMMA’s FIFO submission can be found here.