Long-Distance Commuting in Australia

Abstract

This chapter provides an introduction to this book. It explains why long-distance commuting is growing in Australia as an entrenched workforce practice. It goes on to introduce the chapter contributions of a variety of scholars whose work on different aspects of worker long-distance commuting is presented in this volume. While this book focuses on the mining industry, there are diverse workforce supply, logistical and employee preference reasons throughout Australia in a varied range of industry sectors which have contributed to why LDC arrangements exist. Consequently, the economic and social consequences of LDC are also varied and complex. The use of a non-resident workforce is now an integral part of many mining (and other workplace) operations in Australia. The use of LDC such as fly-in/fly-out (FIFO) and drive-in/drive-out (DIDO) initially focused on remote locations where it was difficult to provide appropriate labour, infrastructure and services. Now however, there is increasing application of LDC for a significant component of the mining workforce who travel from urban, regional, rural and even internationally, to equally diverse locations where mining is conducted.