A prosperous community we’re proud to call home

Temporary Workers Accommodation

– (Mining Camps)

The New Social Blight?

Communities Fear for FIFO Future

• http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-

05-27/workers-on-457-visas-retained-

as-boggabri-coal-slashes-

workforce/4715998

From 3.51

Mining Camps

• What is a TWA

• Planning Framework

• Social Impacts

• Economic Impacts

• Micro and Macro Issues

• Gulgong – Community in fear

• Pressure on infrastructure

FIFO/DIDO

• Who

• 100% FIFO – Local Employment

Pretence

• By-passing local town and region

centres

Mining Camps – What are they?? • Temporary?

• Miners live in these villages while they are ‘on’

roster.

• The buildings are usually transportable in nature

and easily moved.

• The villages provide accommodation, food, laundry,

recreational and entertainment services and

facilities

• Often built outside of a town, not within

• Home or away?

• Totally self contained

• Location

Mining camps – in search of a definition..

• A standard definition would be good...

• Determined by JRPP

• Void of planning control

• Capability of rural communities to

cope

Mining Camps – Social impact • As defined by the NSW Government Office on Social Policy, social impacts are significant events

experienced by people as changes in one or more of the following are experienced:

– Peoples’ way of life (how they live, work or play and interact with one another on a day-to-day basis);

– Their culture (shared beliefs, customs and values); or

– Their community (its cohesion, stability, character, services and facilities).

• Consider these potential impacts....

• Result in a concentration of a large segment of the non resident mine workforce in one place close to an

established residential area,

• Create a significant gender imbalance on the locality with associated adverse social impacts,

• Impose a significant experience of income inequality on the local area with the associated adverse impacts,

• What are social impacts

• Consider these potential impacts

– Concentration of a mono culture

– Gender imbalance

– Income inequity

– Where are the volunteers?!

– Social cohesion

– Where is home?

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Mining camps – Social Impacts on the mine workers

• Carrington and Pereira. “Social Impact of Mining Survey: Aggregate Results Queensland Communities”, Queensland

University of Technology, 2011.

Neg

ativ

ity

Health and Building Impacts

Mining Camps – Economic Impact • FIFO workers, by definition, live somewhere else

• Their accommodation and usually food and other

services are paid by the mines.

• The worker often does not have to get his wallet

out...

• Long working hours

• Regional growing pains

• Resident workers build and buy homes, they buy

groceries, buy cars and generally contribute to the

local economy

• Singleton camp – estimates by planning

consultancy

Mining Camps – Social impact

• Mid-Western Council modelled the impact of hosting a 400 person FIFO workforce

compared with those 400 workers being permanent residents.

• Net loss of between $11.5 million and $29.4 million in Gross Regional Product (GRP) during

construction and $15.1 million annually due to reduced worker spending

• It also results in a loss of up to 242 employment positions during construction, and 260

employment positions annually due to reduced worker spending.

• Using FIFO workers (the total impact i.e. Initial impact + flow-on impact) results in a net loss

for the Mid-Western Region LGA of between $21.7 million and $55.5 million in GRP during

construction and $22.5 million annually due to reduced worker spending.

• It also results in a loss of up to 455 employment positions during the construction phase and

up to 322 employment positions annually due to reduced worker spending.

• In Singleton, use of local and regional labour would boost spending on construction and

investment in housing. The regional economy stands to lose up to $311 million in gross

regional product and 3,138 full time positions annually by contracting FIFO workers instead

of using a permanent resident workforce.*

*-“Social and Economic impacts of Proposed Temporary Accommodation in Singleton for FIFO workers”, SGS Economics and Planning, May 2013.

Mining Camps – Tax incentives • Costs associated with a FIFO workforce can

be written off as a cost of production,

• GST is not paid on flights and

accommodation where the employer pays

for these rather than the employee having a

higher salary to fund these costs,

• FIFO workers can claim living away from

home allowance and remote tax offset

despite the mines being in close proximity

to existing communities. • House of Representatives Standing Committee on Regional Australia “Cancer of the Bush or Salvation of the Cities”

Mining Camps and infrastructure

• Big sudden hit on water and sewer capacity

• A mining camp can be up and running in a 6 month period

and have an immediate impact on infrastructure.

• Impacts on capacity to service other planned development

Gulgong: A Community in Fear

Disconnected

• http://www.abc.net.au/heywire/stori

es/2011/12/3388314.htm

Further Reading

• Report by the House of Representatives Standing Committee

of Regional Australia – Cancer of the Bush or Salvation of our

Cities, February 2013 (Windsor Report).

• Social Impacts of Mining Survey: Aggregate Results for

Queensland Communities, Prof. K. Carrington et al,

Queensland University of Technology, June 2011.

• Social and Economic Impacts of Proposed Temporary

accommodation in Singleton for FIF workers, prepared by SGS

Economics and Planning, dated May 2013.

• Mid-Western regional LEP 2012, Clause 6.11.

• Part 6.2, Mid Western Comprehensive DCP 2013, Temporary

workers Accommodation, Mid-Western Regional Council,

Planning and Development Department, February 2013.