SEPTEMBER KEY FIGURES

		Quarter		Year ended
		June 2013	September 2013	September 2012	September 2013
Number of disputes
	Commenced in period (no.)	57	54	206	212
	Total (no.)	61	65	221	220
Employees involved
	Newly involved ('000)	9.8	18.6	175.1	89.4
	Total ('000)	10.9	19.7	180.1	102.4
Working days lost ('000)		r19.8	23.0	301.8	120.6
r revised

SEPTEMBER KEY POINTS


QUARTERLY ESTIMATES

• In the September quarter 2013 there were 65 industrial disputes, four more than in the June quarter 2013.
• The number of employees involved in industrial disputes in the September quarter 2013 was 19,700, an increase from 10,900 in the June quarter 2013.
• There were 23,000 working days lost due to industrial disputation in the September quarter 2013, an increase from 19,800 in the June quarter 2013.
• The combined Education and training and Health care and social assistance industries accounted for 7,200 of the total number of working days lost in the September quarter 2013.
• The Metal product manufacturing industry had the highest number of working days lost per thousand employees (10.6) for the quarter.
• In the September quarter 2013, Victoria accounted for 11,000 (48%) of the working days lost.

YEAR ENDED ESTIMATES

• During the year ended September 2013, there were 220 disputes, one fewer than in the year ended September 2012.
• During the year ended September 2013, there were 120,600 working days lost, compared with 301,800 in the year ended September 2012.

NOTES

FORTHCOMING ISSUES

ISSUE (QUARTER)	Release Date
December 2013	13 March 2014
March 2014	5 June 2014

REVISIONS

Revisions have been made to the June quarter 2013 data. These revisions are reflected in Tables 1, 2 and 3 of this publication and the associated time series spreadsheets.


REVIEW OF INDUSTRIAL DISPUTES STATISTICS

The ABS has conducted a review of the Industrial Disputes statistics presented in this publication. Since the last comprehensive review 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. An important element of the review was to understand the contemporary and potential future data requirements of users. The first phase of the review has been completed and the recommendations were discussed at the ABS Labour Statistics Advisory Group on 22 November 2013. The ABS is now investigating the operational impacts of implementing the recommendations. Once the outcomes from the operational phase are finalised, information about any changes to the Industrial Disputes statistics will be communicated to users, primarily through notes in this publication.

If you would like further information about the review, please contact Sue-Ellen Luke on (08) 9360 5226 or Manpreet Singh on (08) 9360 5916.


INQUIRIES

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