Advocates warn FIFO standards are slipping on mine sites

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.

"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.

"It needs to be comfortable, clean and connected."

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

Ms Pellowe says the options range anywhere from extravagant camps to motel-style overflow to "donga" demountables.

"In this day and age of 2026, we need to make sure that there are some regulatory bare minimum standards."

Draft code of practice

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.

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

Triggered in part by revelations of widespread sexual harassment on site, it closed for feedback in June.

The Department of Local Government, Industry Relations, and Safety says the code will receive final endorsement next year.

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.

Ms Pellowe said there remained critical gaps when it came to connecting workers with their loved ones back home.

She called for a mandated 24/7 contact point for families to raise welfare concerns.

"They can be a real part of the safety net if they're included in these conversations about psychosocial wellbeing of workers," she said.

Over-reliance on 'wellbeing washing'

Architectural sociologist Jack Tooley, who also entered a submission, said mining companies had failed to connect the challenges to their bottom line.

In a study published last month by journal Safety Science, 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.

Dr Tooley attributed 60 per cent of the psychosocial issues faced by mine workers to the built environment around them.

"If you put 80,000 Australians into an environment that emulates a prison, the results are speaking for themselves,"

he said.

Modelling by Dr Tooley's consultancy found simple improvements that lifted a worker's experience to a "neutral standard" — things like a better bed or noise-cancelling acoustics — could generate about $1.6 billion in annual revenue.

The problem is not specific to WA.

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

"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.

Ms Turner said "creature comforts" were important to navigate the isolation and recover from long hours.

Workers' voices silenced

Researchers from Edith Cowan University found employees in WA's Pilbara region were scared to speak up about the issues.

They approached 20 for in-depth interviews across FIFO and residential rosters.

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

"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.

Dr Vivian said a culture of silence shrouded dissatisfaction with pay and conditions as well as allegations of bullying and harassment.

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

Class actions have been launched in the Federal Court against BHP, Rio Tinto and Fortescue.

"They're asked to suck it up, toe the company line," Dr Vivian said.

"I believe that's probably part of the reason that some of the organisations are in the situation that they are now."

A BHP spokesperson told the ABC the company recognised "FIFO work asks a lot of our people".

"We regularly review worker accommodation, services, and amenities across our operations and we welcome the input of our workers," the spokesperson said.

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.

Fortescue Metals Group was also contacted for comment.