Industrial Disputes, Australia

Latest release

The number of disputes (strikes or lockouts), employees involved and working days lost; cause of dispute; duration; and the reason work resumed

Reference period
March 2026
Released
10/06/2026
  • Next Release 9/09/2026
    Industrial Disputes, Australia, June 2026
  • Next Release 9/12/2026
    Industrial Disputes, Australia, September 2026
  • View all releases
Release date and time
10/06/2026 11:30am AEST

Key statistics

In the March quarter 2026, there were:

  • 49 disputes, 28 less than the previous quarter.
  • 46,500 employees involved, a decrease from 49,500 in the previous quarter.
  • 47,600 working days lost, a decrease from 69,600 in the previous quarter.
  • Disputes occurred in six industries and in eight states and territories.

 

Key statistics
 QuarterYear ended
December Quarter 2025March Quarter 2026March Quarter 2025March Quarter 2026
Number of disputes (no.) 
 New5636180205
 Total 7749189210
Employees involved ('000) 
 New46.943.385.2145.5
 Total 49.546.585.4146.7
Working days lost ('000) 69.647.6136.2200.3

Industrial disputes over time

Industrial disputes which occurred during the quarter
 Number of disputesEmployees involvedWorking days lost 
New (no.)Total (no.)New ('000)Total ('000)('000)
March Quarter 2024364810.612.816.8
June Quarter 2024435223.623.821.9
September Quarter 2024546330.933.046.6
December Quarter 2024496921.725.253.8
March Quarter 202534448.910.313.9
June Quarter 2025394414.715.928.5
September Quarter 2025748740.541.854.6
December Quarter 2025567746.949.569.6
March Quarter 2026364943.346.547.6

Industry

In the March quarter 2026, disputes occurred in six industries. 

Industrial disputes which occurred during the quarter, industry
 December Quarter 2025March Quarter 2026
Working days lost ('000)Working days lost per thousand employees (no.)Working days lost ('000)Working days lost per thousand employees (no.)
Mining 
 Coal miningnpnp--
 Other mining-0.1--
Manufacturing 
 Metal product etc (a)3.110.60.30.7
 Other manufacturing1.73.30.92.0
Construction3.83.41.00.9
Transport, postal & warehousing3.45.30.91.4
Education & training; Health care & social assistancenpnp41.211.8
Other industries (a)16.42.33.20.4
All industries69.65.247.63.5

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

States and territories

In the March quarter 2026, disputes occurred in all states and territories.

  

Industrial disputes which occurred during the quarter, states and territories
 December Quarter 2025March Quarter 2026
Working days lost ('000)Working days lost per thousand employees (no.)Working days lost ('000)Working days lost per thousand employees (no.)
New South Wales11.72.82.50.6
Victoria6.11.742.011.9
Queenslandnpnp1.60.6
South Australia12.914.20.60.6
Western Australianpnpnpnp
Tasmanianpnp0.51.9
Northern Territorynpnp0.10.5
Australian Capital Territory0.10.3npnp
Australia69.65.247.63.5

(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 98% of disputes (63 of 64) which ended in the December quarter 2025.

Cause of dispute for disputes which ended during the quarter
 September Quarter 2025December 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 
 Remuneration2834.640.51928.843.5
 Employment conditions35npnp44npnp
 Other ------
Non-Enterprise Bargaining related 
 Remuneration------
 Employment conditions------
 Health and safety2-0.11npnp
 Job security------
 Managerial policy1npnp---
 Union issues------
 Other------
Total 6639.051.66447.173.6

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

Working days lost

Working days lost is a measure of the length of a dispute, relative to the number of employees involved.

Of the 64 disputes which ended in the December quarter, 22 disputes (34%) were "Up to and including 1 day".

Working days lost for disputes which ended during the quarter
 September Quarter 2025December 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 day26npnp22npnp
Over 1 day and up to including 2 days131.01.517npnp
Over 2 and less than 5 days131.65.1121.96.4
5 and less than 10 days91.06.770.53.7
10 days and over5npnp61.726.0
Total6639.051.66447.173.6

(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 92% of disputes (59 of 64) which ended in the December quarter 2025. 

Reason work resumed for disputes which ended during the quarter
 September Quarter 2025December 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 party3npnp4npnp
State legislation1npnp1npnp
Federal legislation------
Pre-determined return to work6038.647.35944.964.9
Resumption without negotiation2npnp---
Mediation------
Other reasons------
Total6639.051.66447.173.6

(-)  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

Data files

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Previous catalogue number

This release previously used catalogue number 6321.0.55.001.

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