AUGUST 2021
Mining communities keep being told there aren’t many casuals in mining. Employers have been claiming absurdly low percentages to claim that casualisation is not a problem in mining.
However, new data kept secret by the Federal Government shows the growth of casual work in mining and illustrates why employers embrace the model – they are cheaper.
There are three reasons why the estimates being shoped around by the employer lobbyists are wrong:
- Labour hire companies are not included in official employment data on the mining industry, therefore the data doesn’t capture casuals employed through labour hire – which is how most casuals are employed.
- The survey sample used by the ABS in relation to the coal mining industry is so small that it is subject to fluctuation and a wide margin of error.
- The dataset that gives the fullest picture of what is happening with casuals in the industry – produced by the Coal Mining Industry Long Service Leave Corporation - has been supressed by the Federal Government.
Download our Fact Sheet to get a closer look at how those three factors misrepresent the data and unfairly impact workers in the mining industry.