Union hails the ruling as a major win for coal miners
Australia's High Court has rejected an attempt by mining giant BHP to challenge landmark "Same Job Same Pay" orders covering thousands of labour-hire workers at three Central Queensland coal mines.
The court refused BHP Coal Pty Ltd's application for special leave to appeal a ruling of the Full Federal Court, which had upheld regulated labour-hire arrangement orders made by the Fair Work Commission for BHP Mitsubishi Alliance's Goonyella Riverside, Peak Downs, and Saraji mines.
"The proposed appeal does not raise any issue of principle and has insufficient prospects of success to warrant a grant of special leave," the High Court ruled.
"Special leave to appeal is refused with costs."
Those orders, made under the Fair Work Act's regulated labour-hire regime, require labour-hire workers employed through BHP's Operations Services arm and other contractors to be paid the same as directly employed miners performing equivalent work at the three Bowen Basin operations.
According to the Mining and Energy Union (MEU), the rulings have already delivered annual pay rises of about $20,000 to $30,000 for more than 2,000 mine workers at the affected sites, with the increases taking effect in September 2025.
BHP has previously told the industry the decision could cost it around $1.3 billion a year.
The High Court's refusal to hear the case brings to an end a multi‑year legal campaign by BHP to overturn the Fair Work Commission's original orders and subsequent Federal Court decisions that confirmed the entitlement of labour-hire workers to equal pay where they perform the same roles as permanent employees.
A BHP spokesman told ABC News that the company respected the outcome and would continue to comply with the "Same Job Same Pay orders."
"Our long-standing concerns about the added cost and complexity of these laws and their drag on Australia's productivity have not changed," the statement said as quoted by the news outlet.
"There is no change to current arrangements for our Operations Services workforce, and it remains business as usual with a continued focus on safe, reliable production."
A win for workers
In a statement, the MEU described the ruling as a major win for coal miners and a decisive blow to what it calls labour-hire "rorts" in the sector.
"BHP has thrown everything it could at this case – the Commission, the Federal Court and now the High Court. Workers have won at every stage," said MEU Queensland President Mitch Hughes in a statement.
"BHP OS workers no longer have the threat hanging over them of BHP winding back their Same Job Same Pay pay rises. This decision is a final nail in the coffin for the labour-hire loophole that saw BHP outsource workers to its own subsidiary in order to pay them less."
The union signalled it would now push for similar orders at other coal operations in Queensland and New South Wales, saying the outcome strengthens the broader application of the federal government's Same Job, Same Pay laws across the industry.
