Assessing the social impacts of the resources boom on rural communities

TLDR: In the past 30 years mining companies have moved progressively to an expeditionary strategy for natural resources extraction, operating a continuous production cycle of 12-hour shifts as mentioned in this paper increasingly reliant on non-resident, fly-in, flyout or drive-in-drive-out (FIFO/DIDO) workers who typically work block rosters, reside in work camps adjacent to existing communities and travel large distances from their homes.

Abstract: Until the 1970s mining leases were issued by state governments subject to conditions that companies build or substantially finance local community infrastructure, including housing, streets, transport, schools, hospitals and recreation facilities [Houghton (1993). Long-distance commuting: A new approach to mining in Australia. The Geographical Journal, 159(3), 281–290]. Townships and communities went hand in hand with mining development. However, in the past 30 years mining companies have moved progressively to an expeditionary strategy for natural resources extraction – operating a continuous production cycle of 12 hour shifts – increasingly reliant on non-resident, fly-in, fly-out or drive-in, drive-out (FIFO/DIDO) workers who typically work block rosters, reside in work camps adjacent to existing communities and travel large distances from their homes. This paper presents the key findings of our survey into the social impacts of this kind of mining development in Qld. Based on the results we ar...