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For most Australian families, work-life balance seems like a daily grind that ends when your allotted eight hours are up.
But for thousands of workers who fly in and out, the week begins and ends with a flight to one of the mines in the most remote corners of Western Australia.
Common schedules include one week off and two weeks off, often leaving the partners of FIFO workers alone to manage the household.
This is the reality for Alix Andriani, whose husband Phillip has worked for six years in a mine a flight away from their home in Wellard, south Perth.
Alix with her husband Phillip and their children Axl, Ace, Anjel. Image: Supplied/ Lion, Fox & Co
Alix and her friend Michelle at one of the group’s events.
In an attempt to find support and create a community with other women while their partners were thousands of miles away, she founded ‘FIFO WAGs’ in 2019.
Alix said the group helps partners stay positive despite the challenges of being in a relationship with a FIFO worker.
“I found there wasn’t a lot of non-negative support among wives and partners,” he said.
“We got together and it’s just a really good network of women who maybe moved here during Covid from the East Coast or internationally.”
What’s on offer are brunches, cocktail nights, photo shoots, and general gatherings for women who find something in common by being away from their partners for weeks at a time.
Despite the difficulties of being a FIFO WAG, Alix says that the unusual setup has some benefits.
‘When my husband is home, he can leave school. He can attend school assemblies and swim classes,” he said.
‘He can do all the practical daddy things that he might not be able to do if he had a 9-5 in Perth.
‘So the week you’re home, you get to do the evening routine, which you’d probably miss if you were working late here. It just provides more quality family time which is more important.’
“We had a rule that if he was going to do FIFO, I would be a full-time dad, so the kids would have a constant dad there all the time.”
The group regularly participates in photo shoots together. Image: Photography by Hazel and Will
In terms of keeping your relationship fresh despite the distance, Alix says it all comes down to communication and spending time together.
“We’re lucky these days with Facetime and messages and that kind of thing, and I feel like when he’s home, the kids go to my mom’s on a Saturday night (so) we can go out on a date night, or we can stay home and just spend time together,’ she said.
“We definitely don’t miss it and I really enjoy the time he’s away because I can get in my ways a little bit and I want to watch my shows.”
The mother of three also relies on help from extended family to care for Axl, 7, Ace, 4, and Anjel, 2.
Family support became especially important after she was diagnosed with breast cancer earlier this year.
Although her setup works well, Alix says she knows there are stereotypes that mar the industry and those who work in it.
“I think there is an opinion that people (in mining) are paid a lot of money and are paid well for their jobs, which are dangerous, and when you think about it, one of us is at home and it is still an income. ,’ she said.
“Another thing that people always assume is that people are cheating on someone else and I mean there’s a lot of that as well, but it’s quite a negative side, which is one of the reasons I started the group (FIFO WAGs) “.
Mining jobs pay an average of $140,000 for a full-time worker, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
Alix created the group for Western Australian women to support each other in 2019.
But despite the benefits, mining companies have struggled to recruit Australians for the lucrative positions and instead took the search further.
Perth-based Mineral Resources launched an ad campaign this month to entice New Zealanders to work in Western Australia for wages of up to $300,000.
The company has ‘amazing’ incentives for skilled and unskilled roles, including the option to fly in and out for six months of the year.
“We’re offering a lot,” Mineral Resources chief executive Mike Gray told New Zealand’s The AM Talk Show.
‘The incentives are amazing, and I have no doubt that our wages are double (New Zealand wages), in some cases triple.’
There are over 60,000 FIFO workers in Western Australia who fly to remote job sites for mining, oil and gas projects across the state.