Quarter | Year ended | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
December Quarter 2024 | March Quarter 2025 | March Quarter 2024 | March Quarter 2025 | ||
Number of disputes (no.) | |||||
New | 49 | 34 | 193 | 180 | |
Total | 69 | 44 | 207 | 189 | |
Employees involved ('000) | |||||
New | 21.7 | 8.9 | 51.8 | 85.2 | |
Total | 25.2 | 10.3 | 52.9 | 85.4 | |
Working days lost ('000) | 53.8 | 13.9 | 108.3 | 136.2 |
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 March quarter 2025:
- 44 disputes occurred.
- 10,300 employees were involved and 13,900 working days lost.
- disputes occurred in 8 industries and in 6 states and territories.
During the year ended March 2025, there were 189 disputes and a total of 136,200 working days lost.
Overview
In the March quarter 2025, there were:
- 44 disputes, a decrease from 69 in the previous quarter.
- 10,300 employees involved, a decrease from 25,200 in the previous quarter.
- 13,900 working days lost, a decrease from 53,800 in the previous quarter.
Year ended estimates:
- 189 disputes occurred, 18 less than in the previous year.
- 136,200 working days were lost, 27,900 more than in the previous year.
Number of disputes | Employees involved | Working days lost | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
New (no.) | Total (no.) | New ('000) | Total ('000) | ('000) | |
March Quarter 2023 | 33 | 41 | 4.1 | 4.7 | 7.7 |
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 |
Long-term trends
The level of industrial disputation over recent years is considerably lower than in the 1980's and prior decades.
Industry
In the March quarter, disputes occurred in eight industries. Just under a third (30%) of the total working days lost were in the Other Manufacturing industry.
December Quarter 2024 | March 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 | 1.0 | 22.6 | np | np | |
Other mining | np | np | np | np | |
Manufacturing | |||||
Metal product etc (a) | 3.6 | 11.3 | 1.8 | 5.6 | |
Other manufacturing | np | np | 4.1 | 8.2 | |
Construction | 7.5 | 6.7 | 3.4 | 3.0 | |
Transport, postal & warehousing | 33.0 | 49.6 | 2.7 | 4.1 | |
Education & training; Health care & social assistance | 6.4 | 1.9 | np | np | |
Other industries (a) | 1.7 | 0.2 | 1.0 | 0.1 | |
All industries | 53.8 | 4.0 | 13.9 | 1.0 |
(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 six states and territories in the March quarter, the highest (43%) of the total working days lost occurring in Victoria.
December Quarter 2024 | March 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 | 15.0 | 3.6 | 2.6 | 0.6 |
Victoria | 27.7 | 7.9 | 6.0 | 1.7 |
Queensland | 5.4 | 2.0 | 4.2 | 1.5 |
South Australia | np | np | 0.6 | 0.7 |
Western Australia | 4.2 | 2.8 | 0.5 | 0.3 |
Tasmania | np | np | - | - |
Northern Territory | 0.2 | 1.5 | 0.1 | 0.5 |
Australian Capital Territory | 0.6 | 2.3 | - | - |
Australia | 53.8 | 4.0 | 13.9 | 1.0 |
(-) 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 90% of disputes (53 of 59) which ended in the December quarter 2024.
September Quarter 2024 | December Quarter 2024 | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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 | 13 | 1.5 | 2.0 | 12 | 2.0 | 9.5 | |
Employment conditions | 23 | 3.9 | 16.8 | 41 | 20.8 | 46.4 | |
Other | 1 | - | 0.4 | - | - | - | |
Non-Enterprise Bargaining related | |||||||
Remuneration | 1 | 0.2 | 0.4 | - | - | - | |
Employment conditions | 1 | np | np | - | - | - | |
Health and safety | 3 | np | np | 4 | 1.0 | 0.8 | |
Job security | 1 | np | np | - | - | - | |
Managerial policy | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
Union issues | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
Other | - | - | - | 2 | 23.0 | 24.5 | |
Total | 43 | 5.8 | 19.8 | 59 | 46.7 | 81.3 |
(-) 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 59 disputes which ended in the December quarter, 6 lasted 10 days and over. These disputes had:
- 2,500 employees involved; and
- 31,300 working days lost.
September Quarter 2024 | December Quarter 2024 | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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 | 21 | np | np | 29 | 20.9 | 14.2 |
Over 1 day and up to including 2 days | 8 | 1.3 | 1.7 | 14 | 20.7 | 24.7 |
Over 2 and less than 5 days | 7 | 1.4 | 5.2 | 7 | 1.8 | 6.2 |
5 and less than 10 days | 4 | 0.8 | 4.5 | 3 | 0.8 | 5.0 |
10 days and over | 3 | np | np | 6 | 2.5 | 31.3 |
Total | 43 | 5.8 | 19.8 | 59 | 46.7 | 81.3 |
(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 86% of disputes (51 of 59) which ended in the December quarter 2024.
September Quarter 2024 | December Quarter 2024 | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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 | 3 | 0.1 | 1.8 | 6 | 3.0 | 24.1 |
State legislation | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Federal legislation | 1 | np | np | - | - | - |
Pre-determined return to work | 34 | 5.5 | 17.7 | 51 | 43.6 | 57.1 |
Resumption without negotiation | 4 | np | np | 2 | 0.2 | 0.1 |
Mediation | 1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | - | - | - |
Other reasons | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Total | 43 | 5.8 | 19.8 | 59 | 46.7 | 81.3 |
(-) 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
For enquiries about these and related statistics, contact the Customer Assistance Service via the ABS website Contact Us page. The ABS Privacy Policy outlines how the ABS will handle any personal information that you provide to us.
Previous catalogue number
This release previously used catalogue number 6321.0.55.001.