October 9, 2026
The Fair Work Ombudsman’s investigation into underpayment in the black coal mining industry shows that concerns were largely caused by unfit laws delivering unfair outcomes for casuals and labour hire workers, the Mining and Energy Union (MEU) said.
The report confirms what the MEU has long argued: concerns raised by coal workers were real, but the underlying problem was loopholes in workplace laws that allowed labour hire and casual arrangements to undermine secure jobs and industry standards set by site Enterprise Agreements.
“There has been long-term exploitation of labour hire and casual workers in the coal industry,” said MEU General President Grahame Kelly.
“That’s because employment laws weren’t tight enough and mining and labour hire companies used every trick in the book to drive down labour costs.
“In the main, the report shows problem was the laws weren’t delivering fair outcomes for workers and needed an overhaul.”
The report found no evidence for claims union-negotiated enterprise agreements had removed casual entitlements.
Mr Kelly said that long-term advocacy by the MEU has led to important reforms addressing issues around coal industry employment, including:
- tightening the definition of casual employment to reflect work that is short term or has no firm advance commitment
- introducing Same Job Same Pay laws to ensure labour hire workers performing the same work as permanent direct employees are paid the same.
He said these changes have led to a shift in the coal industry away from casual labour hire and towards permanent, direct employment with greater job security and better entitlements and conditions.
Same Job Same Pay orders obtained by the MEU at 30 coal mines have resulted in over $150 million a year in annual pay rises for labour hire coal workers.
Senator Malcolm Roberts, who pushed for the FWO investigation, voted against Same Job Same Pay and stronger casual rights in Federal Parliament.
Mr Kelly thanked the Fair Work Ombudsman for undertaking the investigation which resulted in the recovery of over $8 million in worker entitlements.
“Mining companies are always looking to save a buck. Workers need strong laws, strong unions and strong regulators in their corner.”