MEU wins crucial victory – BHP can’t delay Same Job Same Pay
Media release September 10, 2025
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New Same Job Same Pay laws mean labour hire workers can receive the same pay as permanents doing the same work.
The Albanese Government promised to introduce Same Job Same Pay laws, and they delivered.
Same Job Same Pay is lifting wages for coal mineworkers across Australia and transforming our industry.
The Mining and Energy Union has secured Same Job Same Pay Orders at 30 mines. 5,000 labour hire mine workers have already seen their pay packets increase by tens of thousands a year to match the rates of their directly employed workmates, following our successful Same Job Same Pay orders.
That is about $150 million more in the pockets of mineworkers and their families, being spent in our mining communities every year.
However, Same Job Same Pay laws are new and we need to make sure they are fully implemented.
Same Job Same Pay News
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Application Tracker
Same Job Same Pay is not an automatic process – the MEU is required to apply site-by-site. The union must prove to the Commission that labour hire workers are performing the same work for less pay than direct employees. If this is found to be the case, the Fair Work Commission must then issue an order requiring labour hire workers to be paid the same rate as directly employed workers doing the same job.
| Application made on: | Site | Labour hire provider(s) | Host employer | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13 March 2024 | Callide mine, QLD | Workpac | Batchfire | Same Job Same Pay order issued by the Fair Work Commission |
| 20 March 2024 | Mt Pleasant mine, NSW | Skilled Workforce Solutions | Thiess | Withdrawn due to Thiess agreeing to directly employ the affected workers |
| 11 June 2024 | Rix’s Creek mine, NSW | Workpac | The Bloomfield Group | Order issued by the Fair Work Commission |
| 12 June 2024 | Peak Downs mine, QLD | OS Production, OS Maintenance, Workpac, and Chandler Macleod | BHP | Order issued by the Fair Work Commission |
| 12 June 2024 | Goonyella Riverside mine, QLD | OS Production, OS Maintenance, and Workpac | BHP | Order issued by the Fair Work Commission |
| 12 June 2024 | Saraji mine, QLD | OS Production, OS Maintenance, and Workpac | BHP | Order issued by the Fair Work Commission |
| 21 June 2024 | Boggabri mine, NSW | One Key | Idemitsu | Order issued by the Fair Work Commission |
| 24 June 2024 | Poitrel mine, QLD | Workpac | Stanmore | Order issued by the Fair Work Commission |
| 12 July 2024 | Bengalla mine, NSW | CoreStaff and Skilled Workforce Solutions | New Hope Group | Order issued by the Fair Work Commission |
| 9 August 2024 | German Creek mine (Capcoal Surface Operations), QLD | Workpac and Mobilise Group | Anglo American | Orders issued by the Fair Work Commission |
| 9 August 2024 | Daunia mine, QLD | Workpac | Whitehaven Coal | Orders issued by the Fair Work Commission |
| 13 August 2024 27 August 2024 (One Key) | Coppabella mine. QLD | Workpac, Protech GPS, and One Key | Peabody | Orders issued by the Fair Work Commission |
| 13 August 2024 | Tahmoor mine, NSW | Rstar | SIMEC | Application withdrawn due to mine not being currently operational. |
| 20 September 2024 | Mt Owen/Glendell Operations, NSW | Programmed Skilled Workforce, the TESA Group, and Workpac | Glencore | Orders issued by the Fair Work Commission |
| 13 September 2024 | United Wambo Open Cut, NSW | Programmed Skilled Workforce, CoreStaff, Action Plant Services, and Workpac | Glencore | Order issued by the Fair Work Commission |
| 27 September 2024 | Mount Arthur, NSW | Skilled Workforce Solutions | BHP | Order issued by the Fair Work Commission |
| 30 September 2024 | Appin mine, NSW | PIMS, Nexus | Illawarra Coal Holdings | Orders issued by the Fair Work Commission |
| 4 October 2024 | Hunter Valley Operations, NSW | Programmed Skilled Workforce, Workpac | Yancoal | Order issued by the Fair Work Commission |
| 4 October 2024 | Mangoola Open Cut Mine, NSW | Programmed Skilled Workforce, Workpac | Glencore | Order issued by the Fair Work Commission |
| 8 October 2024 | Blackwater Mine, QLD | Workpac | Whitehaven | Orders issued by the Fair Work Commission |
| 14 October 2024 | Bulga Open Cut Mine, NSW | Workpac, Programmed | Glencore | Order issued by the Fair Work Commission |
| 20 October 2024 | Mt Thorley Warkworth, NSW | Yancoal | Workpac, Programmed | Order issued by the Fair Work Commission |
| 20 October 2024 | Maules Creek, NSW | Workpac, Programmed, SELS Industrial (Brunel) | Whitehaven | Order issued by the Fair Work Commission |
| 2 December 2024 | Dawson Mine, QLD | Workpac | Anglo American | Order issued by the Fair Work Commission |
| 9 December 2024 | Ravensworth Mine, NSW | CoreStaff, Programmed, Workpac | Glencore | Order issued by the Fair Work Commission |
| 12 December 2024 | Caval Ridge Mine, QLD | Workpac, Chandler Mcleod | BHP | Orders issued by the Fair Work Commission |
| 20 December 2024 | Metropolitan (Helensburgh) Mine, NSW | Nexus | Peabody | Order issued by the Fair Work Commission |
| 20 December 2024 | Dendrobium Mine, NSW | Nexus | GM3 | Order Issued by the Fair Work Commission |
| 16 April 2025 | Broadmeadow Mine, QLD | Lunar Mining Services | BHP | Before the Fair Work Commission |
| 6 December 2025 | Vickery Mine, NSW | Workpac, TESA | Whitehaven | Before the Fair Work Commission (Workpac) Order issued by the Fair Work Commission (TESA) |
How Same Job Same Pay works
The Mining and Energy Union applies for Same Job Same Pay at eligible sites where our members are employed.
Under the new laws, applications can be made to the Fair Work Commission at work sites where labour hire workers are paid less than direct employees on an Enterprise Agreement.
The Fair Work Commission will then make an assessment as to whether a Same Job Same Pay order is reasonable and may make an order setting a ‘Protected Rate of Pay’, in line with site EA rates.
As these laws are new, some applications are held up in in court due to employer challenges.
We encourage all coal mineworkers to get involved and help us win Same Job Same Pay at as many worksites as possible.
Listen to our Podcast episode on how Same Job Same Pay Works
Help us win Same Job Same Pay at your worksite
Our cases are stronger with the more members we have on site, so there has never been a better time to get involved, or to talk to your workmates about joining.
Thank you to everyone who has contributed or supported the campaign over the years. This law is an extraordinary accomplishment.
We will keep members up to date with next steps as we make fairer wages a reality.
Frequently Asked Questions
The law allows for applications to be made to the Fair Work Commission (FWC) for an order that labour hire employees must be paid at least what they would receive under a host’s EA.
There are exemptions for registered trainees and apprentices, short-term placements, small businesses and genuine service contractors.
The Fair Work Commission will then make an assessment that a Same Job Same Pay order would be fair and reasonable – including whether labour hire workers are performing the same work as EA employees – and can make an order setting a ‘Protected Rate of Pay’.
The ‘Protected Rate of Pay’, which sets minimum pay rates in line with the relevant Enterprise Agreement on site, is how Same Job Same Pay would be delivered at a worksite.
Additionally, we are optimistic that once the financial incentive for outsourcing jobs is removed through ensuring equal wages, then mine operators will employ more workers directly.
The MEU is applying to the Fair Work Commission for Same Job Same Pay. We are making applications at eligible workplaces based on circumstances at the site and in consultation with MEU labour hire members. We made the first applications in NSW and Queensland in March – follow along here!
The FWC will apply a test to determine whether workers are considered labour hire or ‘service contractors’. In general, labour hire means workers supplied by a labour hire company to work in roles which are supervised or managed by the host.
In contrast, the Commission will assess whether a company is a service contractor based on a number of facts, including whether a company is supplying their own supervisors and equipment for use by the workforce, and whether they perform specialist work on a site.
We expect employers to misrepresent the nature of their engagement of workers in opposing our applications, however the Fair Work Commission will ultimately determine whether a Regulated Labour Hire Order is applicable in any circumstance.
We are confident that many workers in the mining industry can be classified as ‘labour hire’ and we will be encouraging labour hire workers to join the union to strengthen our applications.
The first Same Job Same Pay orders issued by the Fair Work Commission commenced operation in November 2024. Same Job Same Pay orders come into effect when applications are approved and orders issued by the Fair Work Commission.
Mining and Energy Union Submission to the Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Closing Loopholes) Bill.
Follow the Senate Inquiry into the Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Closing Loopholes) Bill.
‘Sets out key issues and questions’: ‘Read the Australian Government’s Same Job Same Pay consultation paper, outlining the issues and the approach to consulting with industry stakeholders
‘Employers seem to be jumping at shadows’: Read this explainer from the Guardian about whether the employers’ ad campaign stacks up
‘A kick in the guts’: Watch this WIN News report about our Queensland campaign launch, where a labour hire worker explains what it’s like to earn $40,000 a year less for the same job
‘$1 billion a year loss in economic activity’: Read this 2022 report by the McKell Institute about mining companies’ labour hire wage-cutting strategies and how they cost regional communities
‘If they raise a safety concern they’ll never get a permanent job’: Read this report in the Newcastle Herald about our member Rebecca McDonald travelling to Canberra to back Same Job Same Pay
‘The misuse of labour hire is allowing this to happen’: Read our MEU overview of the labour hire loopholes in mining
‘Business is trying to scare us about ‘same job, same pay’. But the proposal isn’t scary’: Read this explainer from The Conversation that dispels myths about Same Job Same Pay