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
December 2025
Released
11/03/2026
  • Next Release 10/06/2026
    Industrial Disputes, Australia, March 2026
  • Next Release 9/09/2026
    Industrial Disputes, Australia, June 2026
  • View all releases
Release date and time
11/03/2026 11:30am AEDT

Key statistics

In the December quarter 2025, there were:

  • 77 disputes, 10 less than the previous quarter.
  • 49,500 employees involved, an increase from 41,800 in the previous quarter.
  • 69,600 working days lost, an increase from 54,600 in the previous quarter.
  • Disputes occurred in eight industries and in eight states and territories.

 

Key statistics
  QuarterYear ended
  September Quarter 2025December Quarter 2025December Quarter 2024December Quarter 2025
Number of disputes (no.) 
 New7456182203
 Total 8777194213
Employees involved ('000) 
 New40.546.986.9111.1
 Total 41.849.589.1112.5
Working days lost ('000) 54.6r69.6139.1166.7

r-revised

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)
December Quarter 2023476714.318.644.2
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 2025748740.541.854.6r
December Quarter 2025567746.949.569.6

r-revised

Note - September 2025 Working days lost revised.

Note - September 2025 Working days lost revised.

Industry

In the December quarter, disputes occurred in all eight industries. 

Industrial disputes which occurred during the quarter, industry
  September Quarter 2025December 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 miningnpnpnpnp
 Other mining---0.1
Manufacturing 
 Metal product etc (a)2.89.53.110.6
 Other manufacturingnpnp1.73.3
Construction9.68.73.83.4
Transport, postal & warehousing2.9r4.5r3.45.3
Education & training; Health care & social assistancenpnpnpnp
Other industries (a)2.70.416.42.3
All industries54.6r4.1r69.65.2

(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
r-revised

 

 

States and territories

Disputes occurred in all states and territories during the December quarter.

  

Industrial disputes which occurred during the quarter, states and territories
 September Quarter 2025December 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 Wales9.62.411.72.8
Victoria6.31.86.11.7
Queenslandnpnpnpnp
South Australianpnp12.914.2
Western Australia2.5r1.7rnpnp
Tasmania0.10.5npnp
Northern Territorynpnpnpnp
Australian Capital Territory--0.10.3
Australia54.6r4.1r69.65.2
     

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

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 95% of disputes (63 of 66) which ended in the September quarter 2025.

Cause of dispute for disputes which ended during the quarter
  June Quarter 2025September 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 
 Remuneration8npnp2834.640.5
 Employment conditions162.25.635npnp
 Other ------
Non-Enterprise Bargaining related 
 Remuneration------
 Employment conditions------
 Health and safety4npnp2-0.1
 Job security1-----
 Managerial policy---1npnp
 Union issues------
 Other24.47.8---
Total3113.723.16639.051.6

 (-)  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 66 disputes which ended in the September quarter, 26 disputes (39%) were "Up to and including 1 day".

Working days lost for disputes which ended during the quarter
 June Quarter 2025September 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 day134.32.626npnp
Over 1 day and up to including 2 days68.215.1131.01.5
Over 2 and less than 5 days111.34.8131.65.1
5 and less than 10 days10.10.691.06.7
10 days and over---5npnp
Total3113.723.16639.051.6

 (-)  nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)
(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 91% of disputes (60 of 66) which ended in the September quarter 2025. 

Reason work resumed for disputes which ended during the quarter
 June Quarter 2025September 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 party10.10.13npnp
State legislation---1npnp
Federal legislation1-----
Pre-determined return to work2813.322.96038.647.3
Resumption without negotiation10.40.22npnp
Mediation------
Other reasons------
Total3113.723.16639.051.6

(-)  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

Revisions

Revisions have been made to the September quarter 2025 data. Data items affected are Working days lost, and Working days lost per '000 employees. These revisions are noted in the tables and time series spreadsheets in this publication.

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Previous catalogue number

This release previously used catalogue number 6321.0.55.001.

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