Greens spokesperson for Mental Health Hon Alison Xamon MLC has said the Code of Practice for the mental health of FIFO workers does not go far enough to assist in the prevention of adverse mental health and high suicide rates amongst FIFO workers.
Ms Xamon said while she was pleased the Code was finally out for public comment – nearly three years after the Parliamentary Inquiry which recommended it – it does not go far enough to meaningfully address the challenges originally raised in the Committee report.
She said while it superficially identified some risks to workers, it failed to provide examples of best practice.
“The Committee report clearly stated that the Code of Practice should set out best practice for roster length, but it has failed to do that,” Ms Xamon said.
“Even-time rosters of two weeks on, one off, or eight days on, six off, were to be encouraged, but it has not happened.
Ms Xamon said she was also concerned the Code failed to provide adequate guidance for managers, particularly those who were inexperienced or operating on small, new sites.
She said it ultimately did not offer any concrete direction about what they should be doing to ensure workers’ mental wellbeing.
“It is clear that there is still a long way to go in terms of getting support for FIFO workers right,” Ms Xamon said.
“There are examples within industry of good practice which the entire industry could benefit from. Currently the Code of Practice is only one small piece of the work that still needs to be undertaken.”
