MARCH KEY FIGURES

		Quarter		Year ended
		December 2012	March 2013	March 2012	March 2013
Number of disputes
	Commenced in period (no.)	50	51	191	212
	Total (no.)	58	55	201	218
Employees involved
	Newly involved ('000)	14.3	46.6	129.5	183.2
	Total ('000)	27.3	46.9	131.4	184.7
Working days lost ('000)		25.7	52.1	257.6	289.5

Source(s): Industrial Disputes, Australia

MARCH KEY POINTS


QUARTERLY ESTIMATES

• In the March quarter 2013 there were 55 disputes, 3 less than in the December quarter 2012.
• The number of employees involved in industrial disputes in the March quarter 2013 was 46,900, an increase from 27,300 in the December quarter 2012.
• There were 52,100 working days lost due to industrial disputation in the March quarter 2013, an increase from 25,700 in the December quarter 2012.
• The combined Education and training and Health care and social assistance industry (37,600) accounted for 72% of the total number of working days lost in the March quarter 2013. This combined industry also recorded the highest number of working days lost per thousand employees (17.4) this quarter.
• Victoria (38,700) accounted for 74% of working days lost in the March quarter 2013.

YEAR ENDED ESTIMATES

• During the year ended March 2013, there were 218 disputes, 17 more than in the year ended March 2012.
• During the year ended March 2013, there were 289,500 working days lost compared with 257,600 in the year ended March 2012.

NOTES

FORTHCOMING ISSUES

ISSUE (QUARTER)	Release Date
June 2013	5 September 2013
September 2013	5 December 2013

REVIEW OF INDUSTRIAL DISPUTES STATISTICS

The ABS has commenced a review of the Industrial Disputes statistics presented in this publication. Since the last comprehensive review of these statistics in 1999 there have been a number of changes to industrial relations legislation and, more generally, the structure of the labour market and nature of working arrangements have also changed considerably. The ABS is seeking input from users to ensure that the statistics are conceptually robust and continue to meet critical data requirements.

An important element of the review will be to understand the contemporary and potential future data requirements of users. Consultation with key users is planned to occur in June and July 2013. Once the review is complete, information about any changes to the Industrial Disputes statistics will be communicated to users, primarily through notes in this publication.

If you would like to contribute to this review or require further information about the review, please email to labour.statistics@abs.gov.au or contact Aaron Greenup on (02) 6252 6436 or Kirsty Leslie on (02) 6252 5436.


RELATED ABS RELEASES

The publication Employee Earnings, Benefits and Trade Union Membership, Australia, August 2012, (cat. no. 6310.0) was released on 17 May 2013 and can be accessed from the ABS website. The publication presents information about employees including weekly earnings, entitlement to core employment benefits such as types of paid leave, superannuation contributions made by employers, and trade union membership. The statistics were compiled from the Employee Earnings, Benefits and Trade Union Membership (EEBTUM) Survey conducted throughout Australia in August 2012 as a supplement to the ABS's monthly Labour Force Survey.


REVISIONS

There are no revisions to data this issue.


INQUIRIES

For further information about these and related statistics, contact the National Information and Referral Service on 1300 135 070.