| Quarter | Year ended | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| March Quarter 2025 | June Quarter 2025 | June Quarter 2024 | June Quarter 2025 | ||
| Number of disputes (no.) | |||||
| New | 34 | 39 | 179 | 176 | |
| Total | 44 | 44 | 193 | 185 | |
| Employees involved ('000) | |||||
| New | 8.9 | 14.7 | 65.9 | 76.3 | |
| Total | 10.3 | 15.9 | 67.3 | 78.4 | |
| Working days lost ('000) | 13.9 | 28.5 | 120 | 142.9 | |
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 2025:
- 44 disputes occurred.
- 15,900 employees were involved and 28,500 working days lost.
- disputes occurred in 8 industries and in 5 states.
During the year ended June 2025, there were 185 disputes and a total of 142,900 working days lost.
Overview
In the June quarter 2025, there were:
- 44 disputes, remained the same as the previous quarter.
- 15,900 employees involved, an increase from 10,300 in the previous quarter.
- 28,500 working days lost, an increase from 13,900 in the previous quarter.
Year ended estimates:
- 185 disputes occurred, 8 less than in the previous year.
- 142,900 working days were lost, 22,900 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 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 |
| September Quarter 2024 | 54 | 63 | 30.9 | 33.0 | 46.6 |
| December Quarter 2024 | 49 | 69 | 21.7 | 25.2 | 53.8 |
| March Quarter 2025 | 34 | 44 | 8.9 | 10.3 | 13.9 |
| June Quarter 2025 | 39 | 44 | 14.7 | 15.9 | 28.5 |
Long-term trends
The level of industrial disputation over recent years is considerably lower than in the 1980s and prior decades.
Industry
In the June quarter, disputes occurred in eight industries. Just under a half (47%) of the total working days lost were in the Construction industry.
| March Quarter 2025 | June Quarter 2025 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | np | np | np | np | |
| Other mining | np | np | 0.1 | 0.3 | |
| Manufacturing | |||||
| Metal product etc (a) | 1.8 | 5.6 | 2.2 | 7.3 | |
| Other manufacturing | 4.1 | 8.2 | 1.6 | 3.1 | |
| Construction | 3.4 | 3.0 | 13.4 | 12.3 | |
| Transport, postal & warehousing | 2.7 | 4.1 | 1.6 | 2.4 | |
| Education & training; Health care & social assistance | np | np | 7.8 | 2.3 | |
| Other industries (a) | 1.0 | 0.1 | np | np | |
| All industries | 13.9 | 1.0 | 28.5 | 2.1 | |
(a) see Glossary - Industry - for details of industries included
(np) not available for publication but included in totals where applicable, unless otherwise indicated
States and territories
Disputes occurred in five states in the June quarter, the highest (44%) of the total working days lost occurred in New South Wales.
| March Quarter 2025 | June Quarter 2025 | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | 2.6 | 0.6 | 12.7 | 3.1 |
| Victoria | 6.0 | 1.7 | 2.9 | 0.8 |
| Queensland | 4.2 | 1.5 | 10.1 | 3.6 |
| South Australia | 0.6 | 0.7 | np | np |
| Western Australia | 0.5 | 0.3 | np | np |
| Tasmania | - | - | - | - |
| Northern Territory | 0.1 | 0.5 | - | - |
| Australian Capital Territory | - | - | - | - |
| Australia | 13.9 | 1.0 | 28.5 | 2.1 |
(-) nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)
(np) not available for publication but included in totals where applicable, unless otherwise indicated
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 79% of disputes (31 of 39) which ended in the March quarter 2025.
| December Quarter 2024 | March Quarter 2025 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | 12 | 2.0 | 9.5 | 7 | 1.3 | 2.4 | |
| Employment conditions | 41 | 20.8 | 46.4 | 24 | 4.3 | 12.7 | |
| Other | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| Non-Enterprise Bargaining related | |||||||
| Remuneration | - | - | - | 1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | |
| Employment conditions | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| Health and safety | 4 | 1.0 | 0.8 | 3 | 0.2 | 0.2 | |
| Job security | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| Managerial policy | - | - | - | 2 | 0.2 | 0.3 | |
| Union issues | - | - | - | 1 | 0.2 | - | |
| Other | 2 | 23.0 | 24.5 | 1 | 3.8 | 2.8 | |
| Total | 59 | 46.7 | 81.3 | 39 | 10.1 | 18.4 | |
(-) 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, 22 lasted Up to and including 1 day. These disputes had:
- 6,600 employees involved; and
- 4,200 working days lost.
| December Quarter 2024 | March Quarter 2025 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | 29 | 20.9 | 14.2 | 22 | 6.6 | 4.2 |
| Over 1 day and up to including 2 days | 14 | 20.7 | 24.7 | 6 | 1.1 | 1.6 |
| Over 2 and less than 5 days | 7 | 1.8 | 6.2 | 7 | 0.8 | 2.3 |
| 5 and less than 10 days | 3 | 0.8 | 5.0 | 2 | np | np |
| 10 days and over | 6 | 2.5 | 31.3 | 2 | np | np |
| Total | 59 | 46.7 | 81.3 | 39 | 10.1 | 18.4 |
(np) not available for publication but included in totals where applicable, unless otherwise indicated
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 77% of disputes (30 of 39) which ended in the March quarter 2025.
| December Quarter 2024 | March Quarter 2025 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | 6 | 3.0 | 24.1 | 5 | np | np |
| State legislation | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Federal legislation | - | - | - | 1 | np | np |
| Pre-determined return to work | 51 | 43.6 | 57.1 | 30 | np | np |
| Resumption without negotiation | 2 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 3 | 0.1 | 0.1 |
| Mediation | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Other reasons | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Total | 59 | 46.7 | 81.3 | 39 | 10.1 | 18.4 |
(-) nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)
(np) not available for publication but included in totals where applicable, unless otherwise indicated
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.