Workplace Matters

Director at Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety, Western Australia Sally North.

MiningMining contractor fined $540k for worker death and injury

An underground mining contractor has been fined $540,000 after a rock fall at an underground gold mine near Kambalda killed a driller and injured his offsider.

Adrian Rauso

Bauxite and alumina has the highest injury frequency rate among WA’s most worked commodities, according to WorkSafe data.

MiningREVEALED: WA mining workers most likely to be injured on job

West Australian miners of this commodity were almost three times more likely to get injured than they were in tin, tantalum and lithium. SEE THE TRENDS.

Danielle Le Messurier

A worker was seriously injured when their road train rolled while navigating a sweeping bend on the haul road access to a gold mine.

MiningWhy near misses are crucial to stopping WA mine site deaths

The recent death of a contractor at Wiluna West was not without warning. Fresh data shows the number of serious incidents and fatalities happening across WA mine sites is not improving.

Danielle Le Messurier

State Industrial Relations Minister Simone McGurk

MiningUnions and WA Labor clash over mine safety following death

Industrial Relations Minister Simone McGurk has defended WorkSafe as unions tear into the State’s safety regulator after a mine site death that followed multiple whistleblower warnings.

Adrian Rauso

Kyle Stanley, pictured right, was the 32-year-old mechanical fitter who died at the Wiluna West iron ore mine on Thursday morning.

exclusive
exclusive
Mining
exclusive
WorkSafe was asked to intervene at mine 67 days before death

A former supervisor at the site of WA’s first work-related mining death in 2025 implored WorkSafe to investigate the mine less than three months ago.

Adrian Rauso

ContractingPerenti fatality free but slides on key safety metric

Investors have welcomed a bolstered balance sheet from Perenti, but the listed contractor has had to assure it will ‘remain vigilant’ after failing to reduce injury frequency rates during the year.

Simone Grogan

MiningMore details of grisly mine site death emerge

Multiple sources have told The West Australian that the man who yesterday died at a WA mine was employed by a labour-hire firm based in Belmont.

Adrian Rauso

exclusive
exclusive
Mining
exclusive
Tragedy as worker dies at WA iron ore mine

The death marks the first work-related mine site fatality in WA this year.

Adrian Rauso

A survey has found most Australian workers aren't that worried about the impact of AI on their jobs. (Dean Lewins/AAP PHOTOS)

productivityAussie workers sceptical of AI coming for their jobs

A slim majority of workers believe the government can be trusted to regulate artificial intelligence and most think it will augment rather than replace jobs.

Jennifer Dudley-Nicholson

ANZ chief executive Nuno Matos visited Perth for the first time on Tuesday since stepping into the role in May.

BankingANZ boss’ free advice to young professionals amid WFH push

ANZ’s new boss Nuno Matos has given free career advice to young professionals during his first visit to Perth.

Cheyanne Enciso

WorkSafe said the staff member, employed as a boilermaker, was fabricating a hook-up assembly for an excavator bucket when the accident happened.

WA NewsMining company fined over gruesome workplace incident

A mining fabrication company has been fined $500,000 after a boilermaker lost an eye and fractured his skull in multiple places.

Caleb Runciman

MiningHarassment cost more than 100 BHP jobs last year

The mining giant says it proved 102 complaints of sexual harassment as well as 24 cases of racial harassment across its global workforce of 91,000 employees and contractors in the 2025 financial year.

Sean Smith

The judgement on Monday concludes a saga that began in 2020, when Qantas outsourced baggage handlers, cleaners and other ground staff, axing more than 1800 staff, as COVID-19 took a toll on aviation.

AviationQantas hit with biggest-ever fine for ‘wrong kind of sorry’

Qantas has been hit with a landmark $90 million fine for illegally sacking more than 1800 ground workers, after a Federal Court judge expressed the airline had shown the ‘wrong kind of sorry’.

Cheyanne Enciso

Some colleagues roll their eyes, fumble with the task at hand and somehow manage to escape responsibility altogether, writes Gary Martin.

Gary MartinThe can’t-do colleague who gets away with doing nothing

Welcome to the world of weaponised incompetence, where ‘I’m not good at that’ becomes a well-used routine to wriggle out of responsibility.

GARY MARTIN

The ACTU has revealed they will push for shorter working hours, including a four-day week, to enhance productivity and improve Australians’ work-life balance.

RemunerationIndustry groups hit back against four-day work week push

Industry says a push by ACTU for shorter working hours ahead of Jim Chalmer’s economic round table will harm jobs and result in reduced productivity and lost investment

Kimberley Braddish

Social class can hinder workers' careers across a wide range of industries, research shows. (James Ross/AAP PHOTOS)

researchFair go or no go? Aussie workers face 'class ceiling'

People from disadvantaged backgrounds are often denied the chance to get ahead at work, despite Australia frequently being touted as a classless society.

Fraser Barton

Rio workers will have a 90-day allowance replaced with 12 days of sick leave each year and a $1000 payment every December.

MiningThousands of FIFO workers facing huge change to sick leave

Unions have blasted Rio Tinto’s decision to scrap an allowance for 90 days of sick leave annually, but the miner has hit back and said its new policy is ‘industry leading’.

Adrian Rauso and Simone Grogan

Kmart said it took all reports of modern slavery risk within its supply chains very seriously.

RetailKmart defends ethical sourcing amid forced labour claims

Wesfarmers-owned Kmart has expressed its disappointment over a fresh legal action alleging some of the retailer’s products may have been sourced from suppliers linked to forced labour in China.

Cheyanne Enciso

The case went to the Fair Work Commission after the fired worker claimed wrongful dismissal, but the matter was kept under wraps because the conciliation conference was confidential.

exclusive
exclusive
Workplace Matters
exclusive
Non-binary battle as worker fired for calling colleague ‘he’

A 63-year-old Perth man has been sacked from his high-paying job after he called a non-binary colleague ‘he’ instead of ‘they’.

Ben Harvey

Will Everett, Aqeel Wahid, Cooper Morrison and Rishab Sethuraman are bringing back the humble fashion accessory.

BusinessLive and let tie as office staple makes comeback after COVID

Young Perth professionals are ditching the casual office attire that caught on post-COVID lockdowns to usher in a necktie renaissance.

Cheyanne Enciso

You will require the most insurance cover in your late 30s to early 50s when debt is at its highest, living off one income and paying for school fees.

Peace of MindHere’s why you need income protection insurance

Have you ever thought about what might happen to you and your family if you suddenly couldn’t work? Here’s the different policies you can get and what they cover ...

Jovan Cvetkoski

It’s alleged a man from Beckenham had a verbal altercation with a female worker in her 20s at Coles’ Inglewood store.

RetailUnion warns of new danger for retail workers

Retail workers are facing a new set of dangers from third-party delivery services, a union has warned, after footage emerged showing an alleged assault of a Coles worker by an Uber driver.

Cheyanne Enciso

National Australia Bank chief executive officer Andrew Irvine said he’d faced a difficult week.

BankingNAB boss admits to ‘difficult week’ after public scrutiny

National Australia Bank chief Andrew Irvine says last week’s intense scrutiny over his drinking habits has been ‘difficult’ and found the media coverage ‘quite personal and public’.

Cheyanne Enciso