Quarter | Year ended | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
March Quarter 2024 | June Quarter 2024 | June Quarter 2023 | June Quarter 2024 | ||
Number of disputes (no.) | |||||
New | 36 | 43 | 203 | 179 | |
Total | 48 | 52 | 213 | 193 | |
Employees involved ('000) | |||||
New | 10.6 | 23.6 | 53.3 | 65.9 | |
Total | 12.8 | 23.8 | 54.3 | 67.3 | |
Working days lost ('000) | 16.8 | 21.9 | 67.1 | 120.0 |
Industrial Disputes, Australia
The number of disputes (strikes or lockouts), employees involved and working days lost; cause of dispute; duration; and the reason work resumed
Key statistics
In the June quarter 2024:
- 52 disputes occurred.
- 23,800 employees were involved and 21,900 working days lost.
- disputes occurred in 6 industries and in 6 states and territories.
During the year ended June 2024, there were 193 disputes and a total of 120,000 working days lost.
Overview
In the June quarter 2024, there were:
- 52 disputes, an increase from 48 in the previous quarter.
- 23,800 employees involved, an increase from 12,800 in the previous quarter.
- 21,900 working days lost, an increase from 16,800 in the previous quarter.
Year ended estimates:
- 193 disputes occurred, 20 less than in the previous year.
- 120,000 working days were lost, 52,900 more than in the previous year.
Number of disputes | Employees involved | Working days lost | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
New (no.) | Total (no.) | New ('000) | Total ('000) | ('000) | |
June Quarter 2022 | 45 | 52 | 71.2 | 73.7 | 128.1 |
September Quarter 2022 | 60 | 70 | 21.2 | 22.2 | 28.1 |
December Quarter 2022 | 53 | 68 | 18.4 | 21.6 | 21.0 |
March Quarter 2023 | 33 | 41 | 4.1 | 4.7 | 7.7 |
June Quarter 2023 | 57 | 71 | 9.6 | 10.5 | 10.2 |
September Quarter 2023 | 53 | 67 | 17.4 | 18.8 | 37.1 |
December Quarter 2023 | 47 | 67 | 14.3 | 18.6 | 44.2 |
March Quarter 2024 | 36 | 48 | 10.6 | 12.8 | 16.8 |
June Quarter 2024 | 43 | 52 | 23.6 | 23.8 | 21.9 |
Long-term trends
The level of industrial disputation over recent years is considerably lower than in the 1980's and prior decades.
Industry
In the June quarter, disputes occurred in six industries. Over a third (40%) of the total working days lost were in the Construction industry.
March Quarter 2024 | June Quarter 2024 | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Working days lost ('000) | Working days lost per thousand employees (no.) | Working days lost ('000) | Working days lost per thousand employees (no.) | ||
Mining | |||||
Coal mining | - | - | - | - | |
Other mining | - | - | - | - | |
Manufacturing | |||||
Metal product etc (a) | 0.6 | 1.8 | 2.2 | 6.4 | |
Other manufacturing | 0.1 | 0.1 | 3.9 | 7.7 | |
Construction | 3.2 | 3.0 | 8.9 | 7.9 | |
Transport, postal & warehousing | 5.4 | 8.3 | 0.6 | 0.9 | |
Education & training; Health care & social assistance | 0.4 | 0.1 | 4.9 | 1.5 | |
Other industries (a) | 7.1 | 1.0 | 1.4 | 0.2 | |
All industries | 16.8 | 1.3 | 21.9 | 1.7 |
(a) see Glossary - Industry - for details of industries included
(-) nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)
States and territories
Disputes occurred in six states and territories in the June quarter, with nearly a half (47%) of the total working days lost occurring in Queensland.
March Quarter 2024 | June Quarter 2024 | |||
---|---|---|---|---|
Working days lost ('000) | Working days lost per thousand employees (no.) | Working days lost ('000) | Working days lost per thousand employees (no.) | |
New South Wales | 2.1 | 0.5 | 2.4 | 0.6 |
Victoria | 2.4 | 0.7 | 2.4 | 0.7 |
Queensland | 9.4 | 3.6 | 10.4 | 3.9 |
South Australia | 0.1 | 0.1 | np | np |
Western Australia | 2.7 | 1.8 | 4.5 | 3.0 |
Tasmania | np | np | np | np |
Northern Territory | - | - | - | - |
Australian Capital Territory | np | np | - | - |
Australia | 16.8 | 1.3 | 21.9 | 1.7 |
(np) not available for publication but included in totals where applicable, unless otherwise indicated
(-) nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)
Cause of dispute
Most industrial disputes are Enterprise Bargaining (EB) related. Over the past 10 years, disputes over employment conditions have generally been the most prevalent.
EB related issues were the cause of 74% of disputes (29 of 39) which ended in the March quarter 2024.
December Quarter 2023 | March Quarter 2024 | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Number of disputes (no.) | Employees involved ('000) | Working days lost ('000) | Number of disputes (no.) | Employees involved ('000) | Working days lost ('000) | ||
Enterprise Bargaining related | |||||||
Remuneration | 20 | 2.4 | 9.4 | 6 | 0.5 | 2.1 | |
Employment conditions | 30 | 12.4 | 37.9 | 23 | 9.6 | 20.5 | |
Other | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
Non-Enterprise Bargaining related | |||||||
Remuneration | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
Employment conditions | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
Health and safety | 2 | 0.1 | - | 8 | 1.4 | 1.6 | |
Job security | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
Managerial policy | 1 | 0.1 | - | - | - | - | |
Union issues | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
Other | 2 | 2.1 | 1.4 | 2 | 1.0 | 0.8 | |
Total | 55 | 17.0 | 48.8 | 39 | 12.5 | 25.1 |
(-) nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)
Working days lost
Working days lost is a measure of the length of a dispute, relative to the number of employees involved.
Of the 39 disputes which ended in the March quarter, 17 lasted up to and including 1 day. These disputes had:
- 7,800 employees involved; and
- 6,900 working days lost.
December Quarter 2023 | March Quarter 2024 | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Number of disputes (no.) | Employees involved ('000) | Working days lost ('000) | Number of disputes (no.) | Employees involved ('000) | Working days lost ('000) | |
Up to and including 1 day | 18 | 8.4 | 7.3 | 17 | 7.8 | 6.9 |
Over 1 day and up to including 2 days | 12 | 3.7 | 4.5 | 13 | 2.4 | 3.4 |
Over 2 and less than 5 days | 11 | 3.1 | 10.2 | 6 | 0.6 | 1.6 |
5 and less than 10 days | 8 | 0.8 | 6.5 | 2 | 1.7 | 12.0 |
10 days and over | 6 | 1.0 | 20.3 | 1 | - | 1.1 |
Total | 55 | 17.0 | 48.8 | 39 | 12.5 | 25.1 |
(-) nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)
Reason work resumed
The reason work resumed relates to the last day of action taken. Resumption of work can occur without resolution to the issues that triggered the dispute.
There was a pre-determined return to work for 72% of disputes (28 of 39) which ended in the March quarter 2024.
December Quarter 2023 | March Quarter 2024 | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Number of disputes (no.) | Employees involved ('000) | Working days lost ('000) | Number of disputes (no.) | Employees involved ('000) | Working days lost ('000) | |
Negotiation without intervention of a third party | 5 | np | np | 4 | np | np |
State legislation | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Federal legislation | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Pre-determined return to work | 46 | 16.5 | 36.3 | 28 | 10.3 | 21.4 |
Resumption without negotiation | 2 | 0.3 | 10.3 | 5 | 1.9 | 2.1 |
Mediation | 2 | np | np | 2 | np | np |
Other reasons | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Total | 55 | 17.0 | 48.8 | 39 | 12.5 | 25.1 |
(np) not available for publication but included in totals where applicable, unless otherwise indicated
(-) nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)
Data downloads
Time Series Spreadsheets
Table 1: Industrial disputes which occurred during the period
Table 2a: Industrial disputes which occurred during the period, working days lost, industry
Table 2b: Industrial disputes which occurred during the period, working days lost per thousand employees, industry
Table 3a: Industrial disputes which occurred during the period, working days lost, states and territories
Table 3b: Industrial disputes which occurred during the period, working days lost per thousand employees, states and territories
Table 4a: Industrial disputes which ended during the period, cause of dispute
Table 4b: Industrial disputes which ended during the period, working days lost per employee involved
Table 4c: Industrial disputes which ended during the period, reason work resumed
Enquiries
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Previous catalogue number
This release previously used catalogue number 6321.0.55.001.