Fly-In-Fly-Out Hub Community Impact Study 2013

The Resource Sector Opportunity Study 2011 established that WBB, with disproportionate unemployment, socio-economic disadvantage and population ageing, has to date not shared equally in Queensland’s recent mining prosperity. Harnessing the resource sector’s skilled and well-paid human capital by accommodating fly-in fly-out (FIFO) and drive-in drive-out (DIDO) residents offers significant benefits to WBB in terms of economic, community and infrastructure development. At the same time, recent Australian research has demonstrated some degree of risk in the development of FIFO/DIDO workforce populations (Morris, 2012)1.

As such, RDA WBB emphasises the need to take a measured approach to developing the region into a FIFO/DIDO workforce hub, and seeks to better understand the potential short and long term regional changes it will entail. To this end, the Resource Sector Opportunity Study 2011 identifies the assessment of social and economic impacts (both positive and negative) across the WBB region as a key interim objective. These assessments will provide an evidence base to inform further planning and consultation.