Families are a vital part of mining towns, according to research by Charles Sturt University (CSU) into people involved in Australia’s booming mining industry.

 

“Mining has a relocation culture where employees and their families are expected to move sites, jobs and employers. It is an itinerant lifestyle,” said the report author and social researcher with the CSU Centre for Inland Health, Dr Julaine Allan.

 

“Some research participants had moved more than five times in as many years. It was not uncommon for families to move after three months, and two years in one place was considered a long time. This has serious implications for the stability of families who move with the mining industry.”

 

Dr Allan found a number of critical factors for women in deciding where and when to relocate.

 

“Employment opportunities, housing and basic facilities such as access to fresh food were the most common factors affecting relocation, while some also highlighted access to specialist health services.

 

“I also found support for relocating families was not evenly distributed throughout the industry. Managerial level employees received more support for relocating than contractors or labourers and this made a significant difference to the stress of moving.”

 

A more recent feature of the mining industry is where families continue to live in metropolitan areas or larger regional cities while partners fly into remote mine sites to work for short periods, say two weeks, before returning to their families for a week.

 

Dr Allan found that the ’fly-in-fly-out’ phenomenon often increased social isolation rather than providing a better lifestyle for families. "Some families moved to new areas, particularly large coastal cities and towns, leaving friends and extended family behind. Many found it difficult to settle, to meet people and experienced loneliness as their partner was away for extended periods. It wasn't the lifestyle they'd imagined."

 

“Families living in mining towns were less socially isolated compared to those living in metropolitan areas. In part, this could be because places that experience a lot of population movement were more welcoming to newcomers. Women in this study had skills and professions that are in short supply in rural and remote areas, such as teaching and nursing, and are eagerly sought in these areas.

 

“Their children also add to school numbers, and both women and children participate in social, recreational and cultural activities in the towns.”

 

The report, titled ‘Mining’s Relocation Culture – Implications for family, community and industry’, was produced using the detailed stories of 20 women with partners in the mining industry, as well as from five women with partners in other industries.

 

“Respondents said that they were attracted to diversity where they lived. Towns with mining, that have a diverse population, were more attractive than mining towns,” Dr Allan said.

 

“However, people involved in mining are more likely to live in rural and remote areas than those in other industries, and this diversity is not always evident. This is the challenge for local communities.”

 

Chairman of the NSW Association of Mining Related Councils, Mr Tony Jones, said the report captured the plight and daily realities of itinerant miners’ families.

 

“These families face major issues to do with relocation, social isolation and the ’fly-in-fly-out’ phenomenon. The Association has long recognised the social implications arising from the length of shifts and the complexities of the transient workforce.