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Industrial Disputes, Australia

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This publication contains the quarterly estimates of employees involved and working days lost from industrial disputes

Reference period

June 2019

Released

5/09/2019

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Main features

June key statistics

The Industrial Disputes release provides statistics monitoring the level of industrial disputation in Australia.

Quarterly estimates

44 disputes occurred, no change from the previous quarter.
20,200 employees were involved, an increase from 9,300 in the previous quarter.
17,600 working days were lost, an increase from 16,600 in the previous quarter.
More than five in ten (56%) working days lost were in the Construction industry.
More than four in ten (44%) working days lost were in Victoria.

Year ended estimates

170 disputes occurred, 6 more than in the previous year.
112,500 working days were lost, 2% more than the previous year.

		Quarter		Year ended
		March 2019	June 2019	June 2018	June 2019
Number of disputes
	Commenced in period (no.)	32	34	147	163
	Total (no.)	44	44	164	170
Employees involved
	Newly involved ('000)	7.8	18.8	39.2	65.8
	Total ('000)	9.3	20.2	41.0	66.0
Working days lost ('000)		16.6	17.6	110.0	112.5

Working days lost, Australia
	Working days lost ('000)
Jun-14	20.2
Sep-14	24.6
Dec-14	16.9
Mar-15	20.4
Jun-15	14.8
Sep-15	29.1
Dec-15	19.1
Mar-16	27.9
Jun-16	24.5
Sep-16	34.9
Dec-16	37.2
Mar-17	25.6
Jun-17	40.2
Sep-17	45.9
Dec-17	36.7
Mar-18	14.9
Jun-18	12.5
Sep-18	47.4
Dec-18	30.9
Mar-19	16.6
Jun-19	17.6

Working days lost, Australia

["","Working days lost"]

[["Jun-14","Sep-14","Dec-14","Mar-15","Jun-15","Sep-15","Dec-15","Mar-16","Jun-16","Sep-16","Dec-16","Mar-17","Jun-17","Sep-17","Dec-17","Mar-18","Jun-18","Sep-18","Dec-18","Mar-19","Jun-19"],[[20.199999999999999],[24.600000000000001],[16.899999999999999],[20.399999999999999],[14.800000000000001],[29.100000000000001],[19.100000000000001],[27.899999999999999],[24.5],[34.899999999999999],[37.200000000000003],[25.600000000000001],[40.200000000000003],[45.899999999999999],[36.700000000000003],[14.9],[12.5],[47.399999999999999],[30.899999999999999],[16.600000000000001],[17.600000000000001]]]

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Tables

1 Industrial disputes which occurred during the quarter

	Number of disputes		Employees involved
	Commenced in period	Total	Newly involved	Total	Working days lost
	no.	no.	'000	'000	'000
June Quarter 2017	41	49	22.7	27.8	40.2
September Quarter 2017	40	57	6.3	8.1	45.9
December Quarter 2017	46	67	14.7	17.1	36.7
March Quarter 2018	19	24	3.8	4.0	14.9
June Quarter 2018	42	48	14.4	14.6	12.5
September Quarter 2018	44	51	13.6	13.8	47.4
December Quarter 2018	53	62	25.6	28.8	30.9
March Quarter 2019	32	44	7.8	9.3	16.6
June Quarter 2019	34	44	18.8	20.2	17.6

2 Industrial disputes which occurred during the quarter, industry

		March Quarter 2019		June Quarter 2019
		Working days lost	Working days lost per thousand employees	Working days lost	Working days lost per thousand employees
		'000	no.	'000	no.
Mining
	Coal mining	np	np	-	-
	Other mining	-	-	-	-
Manufacturing
	Metal product etc(a)	1.0	3.5	np	np
	Other manufacturing	np	np	np	np
Construction		4.9	5.3	9.9	10.5
Transport, postal and warehousing		7.2	12.1	1.3	2.4
Education and training; Health care and social assistance		0.1	0.1	1.1	0.4
Other industries(a)		2.9	0.5	3.7	0.6
All industries		16.6	1.4	17.6	1.5

- nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)
np not available for publication but included in totals where applicable, unless otherwise indicated
a. See Glossary - Industry - for details of industries included.

3 Industrial disputes which occurred during the quarter, states and territories

	March Quarter 2019		June Quarter 2019
	Working days lost	Working days lost per thousand employees	Working days lost	Working days lost per thousand employees
	'000	no.	'000	no.
New South Wales	10.5	2.8	3.4	0.9
Victoria	2.3	0.8	7.8	2.5
Queensland	2.7	1.2	5.2	2.3
South Australia	np	np	np	np
Western Australia	np	np	np	np
Tasmania	0.2	0.9	1.0	4.4
Northern Territory	-	0.1	np	np
Australian Capital Territory	-	0.1	np	np
Australia	16.6	1.4	17.6	1.5

- nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)
np not available for publication but included in totals where applicable, unless otherwise indicated

4 Industrial disputes which ended during the quarter

		December Quarter 2018			March Quarter 2019
		Total Number of Disputes	Total Employees Involved	Working days Lost	Total Number of Disputes	Total Employees Involved	Working days Lost
		no.	'000	'000	no.	'000	'000
		CAUSE OF DISPUTE
Enterprise Bargaining (EB) related
	Remuneration	14	np	np	7	1.1	4.5
	Employment conditions (EB)	26	12.9	11.5	16	2.2	6.2
	Other EB related	-	-	-	-	-	-
Non-EB related
	Remuneration	-	-	-	1	np	np
	Employment conditions	2	np	np	-	-	-
	Health and safety	2	0.1	0.1	9	4.3	6.3
	Job security	3	np	np	-	-	-
	Managerial policy	-	-	-	-	-	-
	Union issues	-	-	-	1	np	np
	Other Non EB related	2	11.4	7.6	-	-	-
Total		49	27.0	28.8	34	7.6	17.0
		WORKING DAYS LOST PER EMPLOYEE INVOLVED
Up to and including 1 day		28	24.0	14.6	14	4.9	3.4
Over 1 day and up to including 2 days		8	np	np	6	0.9	1.7
Over 2 and less than 5 days		4	0.6	1.6	7	0.9	2.7
5 and less than 10 days		3	np	np	4	0.7	5.2
10 days and over		6	0.3	5.0	3	0.2	4.0
Total		49	27.0	28.8	34	7.6	17.0
		REASON WORK RESUMED
Negotiation without intervention of a third party		8	1.4	8.8	4	np	np
State legislation		-	-	-	-	-	-
Federal legislation		-	-	-	2	0.4	3.3
Pre-determined return to work		37	25.5	19.9	22	3.1	8.9
Resumption without negotiation		2	np	np	5	0.5	0.4
Mediation		2	np	np	1	np	np
Other reasons		-	-	-	-	-	-
Total		49	27.0	28.8	34	7.6	17.0

- nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)
np not available for publication but included in totals where applicable, unless otherwise indicated

Inquiries

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

Data downloads

Table 1: Industrial disputes which occurred during the period

Data files

Download xls [67 KB]

Table 2a: Industrial disputes which occurred during the period, working days lost, industry

Data files

Download xls [77.5 KB]

Table 2b: Industrial disputes which occurred during the period, working days lost per thousand employees, industry

Data files

Download xls [75 KB]

Table 3a: Industrial disputes which occurred during the period, working days lost, states and territories

Data files

Download xls [121.5 KB]

Table 3b: Industrial disputes which occurred during the period, working days lost per thousand employees, states and territories

Data files

Download xls [111 KB]

Table 4a: Industrial disputes which ended during the period, cause of dispute

Data files

Download xls [287 KB]

Table 4b: Industrial disputes which ended during the period, working days lost per employee involved

Data files

Download xls [121 KB]

Table 4c: Industrial disputes which ended during the period, reason work resumed

Data files

Download xls [218 KB]

Methodology

Industrial Disputes, Australia methodology, June 2019

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APA

Citation

Industrial Disputes, Australia

APA

Citation

Main features

June key statistics

Quarterly estimates

Year ended estimates

Tables

1 Industrial disputes which occurred during the quarter

2 Industrial disputes which occurred during the quarter, industry

3 Industrial disputes which occurred during the quarter, states and territories

4 Industrial disputes which ended during the quarter

Inquiries

Data downloads

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

Methodology

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