Australian mining giant Fortescue is facing a class action proceeding in the Federal Court of Australia alleging the company is liable for failing to protect females who worked at any of their Australian worksites from being exposed to sex discrimination, sexual harassment and/or a hostile workplace.
Law firm JGA Saddler said its class action would address these long-standing issues and seek compensation owed to thousands of Australian women who worked for Fortescue between 1 February 2006 and 5 December 2025.
“During the past few years, there have been various reports and inquiries into sexual harassment in the mining industry. In 2021, the Western Australian government conducted an inquiry into the fly-in, fly-out (FIFO) industry and shone a light on a plethora of inappropriate behaviours against females,” JGA Saddler said in a statement about the class action.
Related article: Fortescue starts work on massive Turner River Solar & BESS
“The stories heard during the inquiry match the various sorts of behaviours commonly described as sexual assault or sexual harassment.”
Some of the evidence provided to the committee shared harrowing stories of women in the industry. One woman said, “I have been asked how many men I’ve slept with, do I shave, have I ever slept with another women and if so how many?”
Another said, “When I was onsite, I often received comments like ‘what is your room number’, I would receive text messages from married men on my crew asking me to go to their room and give them a massage, I would get men knocking on my door in the middle of the night, and hear stories that men will take your underwear from the washing machine.”
In 2020, Fortescue disclosed there were 31 allegations of sexual harassment in their Western Australian mines.
“Reports of sexual harassment at Fortescue have been rising. However, these statistics severely understate the true of extent of sexual harassment at Fortescue,” JGA Saddler said.
The class action against Fortescue follows similar cases in 2024 against Rio Tinto and BHP that alleged widespread sexual harassment, sexual violence, and sex discrimination.
Fortescue CEO (Metals & Operations) Dino Otranto said, “This isn’t the first class action we’ve seen in the industry over the past few years. That said, these are extremely serious allegations and Fortescue takes them very seriously.
“I’ve been briefed on the class action filed today. Given the matter is now before the courts, it would be inappropriate for me to comment on the specific allegations.
“What I can say is that we remain committed to maintaining an open and inclusive workplace. Do we have more work to do? Yes. The industry-wide inquiry several years ago made it clear that the entire sector needed to lift its standards, and we’ve invested significantly in critical infrastructure and initiatives across our operations to help ensure everyone feels safe, respected and included at work.”
A Fortescue spokesperson also commented, “Fortescue is committed to providing a safe, respectful and inclusive workplace for all employees and contractors. Sexual harassment, unlawful discrimination and other behaviour that makes people feel unsafe have no place at Fortescue.
Related article: Fortescue to invest $952M in Pilbara Green Energy Project
“All matters involving the health, safety and wellbeing of our people are treated seriously across our operations, offices, villages and in our work with contracting partners.
“We are always listening to our people and working with them to continuously improve how we manage safety, including how concerns are raised, investigated and addressed.
“While we have made strong progress, we know there is always more work to do and Fortescue is committed to continuously lifting standards across both our own operations and the mining industry more broadly.”
